Trump Golf Resort Loses Complaint Against Scottish Newspaper Over Reporting on Food Hygiene Failure

Trump Estate in Balmedie. (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire URN:45603954 (Press Association via AP Images))

Former President Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf resort in Scotland lost its complaint to the UK’s largest press watchdog against The Scotsman newspaper over two articles spotlighting the property’s failure to pass food hygiene inspections.

The first of these articles, published last September, revealed that Trump International Golf Links failed to pass a national food hygiene inspection, citing violations that included dirty chopping boards, improper handwashing by staff, and sausage meat that was three months past expiry date.

A follow-up opinion piece humorously titled “Make Trump resort restaurant great again” made fun of the notion that a business owned by a “self-confessed germophobe” was flagged for food safety issues.

In a complaint to Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Trump International said that the articles “created a false narrative that the resort was currently operating an unsafe environment for consumers and that the problems were ongoing.”

The company contended that it had rectified the issues and subsequently passed an inspection in March 2023—a detail omitted in The Scotsman’s coverage. The Scotsman had sourced its information from an outdated council website, a mistake acknowledged and corrected post-complaint.

Despite the arguments, IPSO ruled that The Scotsman had taken adequate steps to verify the facts, including freedom of information requests and direct communication with the council.

The watchdog concluded that the articles were careful enough in their reporting and that the publication had acted promptly in response to the new and verified information, meriting only a correction, not the demanded apology.