Trump values Doonbeg golf resort at $25m-$50m

US president reportedly paid €9m in 2014 for resort, which had income of $14m last year

US president Donald Trump has valued his golf course in Doonbeg, Co Clare at between $25 million and $50 million (€21.18 million-€42.36 million), according to a financial disclosures form published on Wednesday.

The US Office of Government Ethics released the 92-page document, which relates to the calendar year 2017.

According to the form, the Co Clare property was valued at between $25 million and $50 million, and generated income of $14 million in 2017. Mr Trump bought the five-star Doonbeg resort in 2014, reportedly for €9 million.

Mr Trump resigned as a board member of TIGL Ireland Enterprises Ltd – the holding company for Doonbeg – in the days prior to being sworn in as US president, though he retains his shareholding.

READ MORE

‘Third party’ expenses

The form also reveals that the president repaid his lawyer Michael Cohen $100,000 for "third party" expenses – a payment widely believed to be reimbursement for a payment Mr Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims to have had an affair with Mr Trump – a claim the president denies.

“In 2016 expenses were incurred by one of Donald J Trump’s attorneys, Michael Cohen,” Mr Trump reported in a footnote to the report. “Mr Cohen sought reimbursement of those expenses and Mr Trump fully reimbursed Mr Cohen in 2017. The category of value would be $100,001-$250,000 and the interest rate would be zero.”

In a letter to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, David Apol, said the payment should have been reported as a liability.

The personal financial disclosure report, which is required of top government officials, offers an insight into the US president’s vast property and business network.

It claims revenue at the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, just a few blocks from the White House, was $40.4 million last year. The president's club at Mar-a-Lago in Florida had revenues of $25.1 million.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump's golf course in Scotland was valued at more than $50 million.

Suzanne Lynch

Suzanne Lynch

Suzanne Lynch, a former Irish Times journalist, was Washington correspondent and, before that, Europe correspondent