Trump's trip to Scotland as his new golf course opens blurs politics and the family's business

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Lashed by cold winds and overlooking choppy, steel-gray North Sea waters, the breathtaking sand dunes of Scotland's northeastern coast rank among Donald Trump's favorite spots on earth.

“At some point, maybe in my very old age, I’ll go there and do the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen," Trump said in 2023, during his New York civil fraud trial, talking about his plans for future developments on his property in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.

At 79 and back in the White House, Trump is making at least part of that pledge a reality, landing in Scotland on Friday as his family’s business prepares for the Aug. 13 opening of a new golf course bearing his name.

Trump will be in Scotland until Tuesday, and plans to talk trade with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The Aberdeen area is already home to another of his courses, Trump International Scotland, and the Republican president is also visiting a Trump course near Turnberry, around 200 miles (320 kilometers) away on Scotland’s southwest coast. Trump said upon arrival on Friday evening that his son is "gonna cut a ribbon” for the new course during his trip. Eric Trump also went with his father to break ground on the project back in 2023.

Using a presidential overseas trip — with its sprawling entourage of advisers, White House and support staffers, Secret Service agents and reporters — to help show off Trump-brand golf destinations demonstrates how the president has become increasingly comfortable intermingling his governing pursuits with promoting his family’s business interests.

The White House has brushed off questions about potential conflicts of interest, arguing that Trump's business success before he entered politics was a key to his appeal with voters.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers called the Scotland swing a “working trip." But she added Trump “has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport.”

Trump went to Scotland to play his Turnberry course during his first term in 2018 while en route to a meeting in Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But this trip comes as the new golf course is already actively selling tee times.

“We’re at a point where the Trump administration is so intertwined with the Trump business that he doesn’t seem to see much of a difference,” said Jordan Libowitz, vice president for the ethics watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “It’s as if the White House were almost an arm of the Trump Organization.”

During his first term, the Trump Organization signed an ethics pact barring deals with foreign companies. An ethics frameworks for Trump's second term allows them.

Trump's assets are in a trust run by his children, who are also handling day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization while he's in the White House. The company has inked many recent, lucrative foreign agreements involving golf courses, including plans to build luxury developments in Qatar and Vietnam, even as the administration negotiates tariff rates for those countries and around the globe.

Trump's existing Aberdeenshire course, meanwhile, has a history nearly as rocky as the area's cliffs.

It has struggled to turn a profit and was found by Scottish conservation authorities to have partially destroyed nearby sand dunes. Trump's company also was ordered to cover the Scottish government’s legal costs after the course unsuccessfully sued over the construction of a nearby wind farm, arguing in part that it hurt golfers' views.

And the development was part of the massive civil case, which accused Trump of inflating his wealth to secure loans and make business deals.

Trump's company's initial plans for his first Aberdeen-area course called for a luxury hotel and nearby housing. His company received permission to build 500 houses, but Trump suggested he'd be allowed to build five times as many and borrowed against their values without actually building any homes, the lawsuit alleged.

Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable last year and ordered his company to pay $355 million in fines — a judgment that has grown with interest to more than $510 million as Trump appeals.

Family financial interests aside, Trump isn’t the first sitting U.S. president to golf in Scotland. That was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who played in Turnberry in 1959. George W. Bush visited the famed course at Gleneagles in 2005 but didn’t play.

Many historians trace golf back to Scotland in the Middle Ages. Among the earliest known references to game was a Scottish Parliament resolution in 1457 that tried to ban it, along with soccer, because of fears both were distracting men from practicing archery — then considered vital to national defense.

The first U.S. president to golf regularly was William Howard Taft, who served from 1909 to 1913 and ignored warnings from his predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt, that playing too much would make it seem like he wasn't working hard enough.

Woodrow Wilson played nearly every day but Sundays, and even had the Secret Service paint his golf balls red so he could practice in the snow, said Mike Trostel, director of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Warren G. Harding trained his dog Laddie Boy to fetch golf balls while he practiced. Lyndon B. Johnson’s swing was sometimes described as looking like a man trying to kill a rattlesnake.

Bill Clinton, who liked to joke that he was the only president whose game improved while in office, restored a putting green on the White House’s South Lawn. It was originally installed by Eisenhower, who was such an avid user that he left cleat marks in the wooden floors of the Oval Office by the door leading out to it.

Bush stopped golfing after the start of the Iraq war in 2003 because of the optics. Barack Obama had a golf simulator installed in the White House that Trump upgraded during his first term, Trostel said.

John F. Kennedy largely hid his love of the game as president, but he played on Harvard’s golf team and nearly made a hole-in-one at California's renowned Cypress Point Golf Club just before the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

“I’d say, between President Trump and President John F. Kennedy, those are two of the most skilled golfers we’ve had in the White House,” Trostel said.

Trump, Trostel said, has a handicap index — how many strokes above par a golfer is likely to score — of a very strong 2.5, though he's not posted an official round with the U.S. Golf Association since 2021. That's better than Joe Biden's handicap of 6.7, which also might be outdated, and Obama, who once described his own handicap as an “honest 13.”

The White House described Trump as a championship-level golfer but said he plays with no handicap.

Associated Press writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.

Police guard the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025, ahead of President Trump's visit Scotland. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Visitors and plane spotters stand on a hill overviewing Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025 ahead of the arrival of President Donald Trump.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump, escorted by Air Force 89th Air Wing Deputy Commander Melissa Dombrock, walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - Merchandise on sale at the Trump International golf course in Balmedie, Scotland, Oct. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Renee Graham, File)

People gather outside the airport in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, on Friday, July 25, 2025, ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One as he arrives at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Onlookers take pictures as the convoy with President Donald Trump passes by in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The motorcade with President Donald Trump arrives at the golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Police guard the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025, ahead of President Trump's visit Scotland. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Visitors and plane spotters stand on a hill overviewing Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025 ahead of the arrival of President Donald Trump.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump, escorted by Air Force 89th Air Wing Deputy Commander Melissa Dombrock, walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - Merchandise on sale at the Trump International golf course in Balmedie, Scotland, Oct. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Renee Graham, File)

President Donald Trump plays golf at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Saturday, July 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

President Donald Trump steers a golf cart at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Saturday, July 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

People gather outside the airport in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, on Friday, July 25, 2025, ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One as he arrives at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Onlookers take pictures as the convoy with President Donald Trump passes by in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The motorcade with President Donald Trump arrives at the golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Police guard the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025, ahead of President Trump's visit Scotland. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Visitors and plane spotters stand on a hill overviewing Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025 ahead of the arrival of President Donald Trump.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump, escorted by Air Force 89th Air Wing Deputy Commander Melissa Dombrock, walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - Merchandise on sale at the Trump International golf course in Balmedie, Scotland, Oct. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Renee Graham, File)

Members of the press at the Trump Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire, Scotland, Saturday, July 26, 2025 as US President Donald Trump begins his five-day private trip to the country. (Robert Perry/PA via AP)

President Donald Trump plays golf at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Saturday, July 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

President Donald Trump steers a golf cart at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Saturday, July 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

People gather outside the airport in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, on Friday, July 25, 2025, ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One as he arrives at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Onlookers take pictures as the convoy with President Donald Trump passes by in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The motorcade with President Donald Trump arrives at the golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Police guard the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025, ahead of President Trump's visit Scotland. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Visitors and plane spotters stand on a hill overviewing Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland, Friday, July 25, 2025 ahead of the arrival of President Donald Trump.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump, escorted by Air Force 89th Air Wing Deputy Commander Melissa Dombrock, walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, July 25, 2025, en route to Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - Merchandise on sale at the Trump International golf course in Balmedie, Scotland, Oct. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Renee Graham, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.

South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.

Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.

On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.

No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.

After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.

Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)