Anonymous wrote:https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/06/air-force-trump-scottish-retreat-1484337

In early Spring of this year, an Air National Guard crew made a routine trip from the U.S. to Kuwait to deliver supplies.

What wasn’t routine was where the crew stopped along the way: President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort, about 50 miles outside Glasgow, Scotland.

Since April, the House Oversight Committee has been investigating why the crew on the C-17 military transport plane made the unusual stay — both en route to the Middle East and on the way back — at the luxury waterside resort, according to several people familiar with the incident. But they have yet to receive any answers from the Pentagon.

The inquiry is part of a broader, previously unreported probe into U.S. military expenditures at and around the Trump property in Scotland. According to a letter the panel sent to the Pentagon in June, the military has spent $11 million on fuel at the Prestwick Airport — the closest airport to Trump Turnberry — since October 2017, fuel that would be cheaper if purchased at a U.S. military base. The letter also cites a Guardian report that the airport provided cut-rate rooms and free rounds of golf at Turnberry for U.S. military members.

Taken together, the incidents raise the possibility that the military has helped keep Trump’s Turnberry resort afloat — the property lost $4.5 million in 2017, but revenue went up $3 million in 2018.

On previous trips to the Middle East, the C-17 had landed at U.S. air bases such as Ramstein Air Base in Germany or Naval Station Rota in Spain to refuel, according to one person familiar with the trips. Occasionally the plane stopped in the Azores and once in Sigonella, Italy, both of which have U.S. military sites, the person added.

But on this particular trip, the plane landed in Glasgow — a pitstop the five-man crew had never experienced in their dozens of trips to the Middle East. The location lacked a U.S. base and was dozens of miles away from the crew’s overnight lodging at the Turnberry resort.

How long the country will go on keeping quiet? Where does this end?

Anonymous wrote:Trump is still directly benefiting. No one said Trump ordered this, but he is making money off of your tax dollars, when there are cheaper options near the airport or on US/RAF bases elsewhere.

Domestic emolument is still illegal.

The controversial arrangement by the U.S. Air Force to refuel at a Scottish airport near President Trump’s Turnberry golf resort apparently was signed under the Obama administration, according to multiple reports.

The details emerged as the Air Force was called to explain a March stopover in the Scottish resort -- with Democrats on the House Oversight Committee writing to Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan as part of their investigation into alleged conflicts of interest by the president. The twist revealing that the airport deal predates his administration could boost Trump's case.

Politico, which was among the outlets to publish stories this week examining the relationship between the Air Force and the resort, reported that the Air Force crews stayed at Trump’s Scottish resort up to 40 times since 2015.

It also reported that the contract with the Prestwick Airport was in fact signed during the Obama administration. The Washington Post also reported that the airport was sending visiting crews to Trump’s course before he ran for president.

The Air Force said in a statement that relatively few crews stayed at Trump Turnberry between 2015 and 2019.

“We reviewed the vast majority of the 659 overnight stays of Air Force crews in the vicinity at Glasgow Prestwick Airport between 2015 and 2019. Approximately six percent of those crews stayed at the Trump Turnberry,” the statement from an Air Force official said. “As a practice, we generally send aircrews to the closest, most suitable accommodations within the government hotel rate. The review also indicated that about 75 percent of the crews stayed in the immediate vicinity of the airfield and 18 percent stayed in Glasgow.”

Anonymous wrote:NY TImes

TRUMP TURNBERRY STAFF CONFIRM: Military stays at Trump Doonbeg have been a regular occurrence, with buses carrying soldiers or Marines arriving as late as 2 a.m.

Less expensive hotels are right next to the airport.

The Trump resort is a 40-minute drive.

Anonymous wrote:But see, Trump supporters thinks this is “smart” and evidence he’s a “good businessman.” Plus, “But but Hillary’s emails!”

Anonymous wrote:NY TImes

TRUMP TURNBERRY STAFF CONFIRM: Military stays at Trump Doonbeg have been a regular occurrence, with buses carrying soldiers or Marines arriving as late as 2 a.m.

Less expensive hotels are right next to the airport.

The Trump resort is a 40-minute drive.

Anonymous wrote:NY TImes

TRUMP TURNBERRY STAFF CONFIRM: Military stays at Trump Doonbeg have been a regular occurrence, with buses carrying soldiers or Marines arriving as late as 2 a.m.

Less expensive hotels are right next to the airport.

The Trump resort is a 40-minute drive.

Anonymous wrote:The 2014 deal between the Trump Org and the airport had nothing to do with the US Air Force. That is a more recent development.