Trump Touts ‘Greatest’ Scottish Golf Course as Diplomatic Asset

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to promote one of his money-losing Scottish golf courses as perhaps the world’s “greatest” as well as being a diplomatic asset.

The president retweeted a message from the Trump Organization about the physical attributes of Trump International Scotland, located north of Aberdeen: a “close to ideal” landscape with “no weak holes.”

The facility also “furthers U.K. relationship!” Trump said.

Many Twitter users immediately seized on the tweet as an example of Trump using the social media site -- where he has 59 million followers -- to promote his own business.

Trump’s golf courses are a regular source of controversy in Scotland. On Thursday, the Trump Organization was ordered to pay the Scottish government’s legal costs following a lengthy court battle over an offshore wind farm, the BBC reported.

U.K. filings in August showed that Trump’s two Scottish courses posted a combined loss of 4.6 million pounds ($6.1 million) in 2017. At the time, the Trump Organization had pumped more than 150 million pounds into the courses without turning a profit.

Golf course rankings are subjective and there’s no absolute standard. The website “Top 100 Golf Courses” rates Trump’s north-coast layout as Scotland’s 10th best. Trump Turnberry, which the Trump Organization acquired in 2014 and which has hosted four Open Championships, was ranked fourth.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ros Krasny in Washington at rkrasny1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

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