The Air Force released a review finding that the use of President Trump’s Scottish golf resort to lodge airmen was consistent with existing standards.
In a Friday release, the Air Force said that a wide-reaching review of Air Mobility Command’s compliance with Defense Department standards regarding civil airports and aircrew lodging “concluded that all policies and procedures were properly applied and followed.”
The release comes after a September report that Air Force personnel on a C-17 cargo plane returning from the Middle East this spring stayed at the Trump Turnberry golf resort. The personnel had stopped at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, the use of which has increased over the past five years as a military stopover.
Pentagon chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in September that the stay was within the parameters set for lodging.
“While the Air Force is still reviewing all trip records, we found nothing that falls outside the guidelines associated with selecting stopover airports and travel routes or hotel accommodations for crew rest,” Hoffman said.
The cost for the spring stay at Turnberry was $136 per night, below the $166 limit set by the Air Force and less than the $161 rate of a nearby Marriott.
The Friday review found no impropriety in the Air Force’s use of the lodging in question.
“Regarding the use of Prestwick Airport and associated lodging facilities by aircrews transiting that location, the data collected during this review convincingly confirmed that patterns across the 2015-2019 timeframe conform to use on the basis of operational military necessity,” the report reads.
“No evidence was found to suggest use of airfields or specific lodging locations was inconsistent with the imperatives to maintain throughput and velocity of the air mobility system in support of national military objectives,” it adds.
Trump reacted to the September report by claiming he was completely unaware of the stay. He wrote on Twitter at the time, “I know nothing about an Air Force plane landing at an airport (which I do not own and have nothing to do with) near Turnberry Resort (which I do own) in Scotland, and filling up with fuel, with the crew staying overnight at Turnberry (they have good taste!). NOTHING TO DO WITH ME.”
I know nothing about an Air Force plane landing at an airport (which I do not own and have nothing to do with) near Turnberry Resort (which I do own) in Scotland, and filling up with fuel, with the crew staying overnight at Turnberry (they have good taste!). NOTHING TO DO WITH ME
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019
The president gave control of the Trump Organization, which controls the hotel, to his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, but has been criticized for not completely divesting himself from his business interests.
The House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into Vice President Mike Pence’s stay at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, Ireland, which is 182 miles away from meetings he was attending in Dublin.
