Sept. 8 (UPI) — The U.S. Air Force air crew that stayed at a resort in Scotland owned by President Donald Trump earlier this year during a stopover between Kuwait and the United States followed proper protocols, an Air Force spokesman said Sunday.
The Air Force is still reviewing trip records of the U.S. Air Force C17’s stop at Glasgow’s airport, where they stayed at Trump’s Turnberry resort in March, but Brig. Gen. Ed Thomas said the stop was not unusual and that they have yet to find anything that falls outside of the guidelines for selecting stopover airports and hotel accommodations for crew rest.
“As our aircrews serve on these international airlift missions, they follow strict guidelines on contracting for hotel accommodations and all expenditures of taxpayer dollars,” Thomas said. “In this case, they made reservations through the Defense Travel System and used the closest available and least expensive accommodations to the airfield within the crews’ allowable hotel rates.”
Thomas said the rate at the Trump property was $136 a night, less expensive than a Marriott property in the area at $161 a night, adding that both were covered under the per diem rate of $166.
He also noted that the crew stayed at a nearby Marriott property during their return trip.
The stay has become the subject of an investigation by the House oversight committee as part of a larger probe into military spending.
The committee has said the Pentagon failed to provide Defense Department Documents related to post-election military stops in Prestwick, Scotland.
The committee sent a letter to the Pentagon in June shows that the military has spent $11 million in fuel at the “debt-ridden airport” closest to Trump Turnberry golf course, Glasgow Prestwick Airport, since October 2017, even though the fuel would have been cheaper if purchased at a U.S. military base.
