Capitol riots fallout sounds the death knell for Donald Trump's toxic brand - Martyn McLaughlin

[catbyte]

It is hard to put a figure on the price Scotland is paying for Donald Trump’s continuing malignant presence in this country, but the R&A’s announcement that his Turnberry resort will not host the Open Championship for the “foreseeable future” confirms that it stretches into at least nine figures.

By Martyn McLaughlin
Tuesday, 12th January 2021, 4:30 pm

After several years of keeping its powder dry, and issuing biannual diplomatic non-committals, golf’s governing body finally gave voice to what many long suspected – for as long as the historic Ayrshire property is besmirched by Mr Trump’s ownership, it will not host the sport’s oldest, and arguably most prestigious, tournament.

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If the R&A’s announcement is a bitter disappointment for Turnberry and Scotland, then it is nothing short of a catastrophe for the outgoing US president and his family firm. Based on my encounters with Mr Trump, and conversations down the years with others in the Trump Organisation, I haven’t the slightest doubt that he will be far more angry and concerned about the R&A’s decision than he is about the new impeachment proceedings.

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Around the world, companies and financial institutions are severing their ties with the Trump Organisation. It is a brand which once served as a byword for questionable taste and conduct, but which is rapidly mutating into a masthead for extremism.

Only a few years ago, I and many others presumed Mr Trump’s bid for public office was a crude marketing wheeze. How ironic that the presidency, far from reinvigorating his brand, could sound the death knell for it.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/capitol-riots-fallout-sounds-death-knell-donald-trumps-toxic-brand-martyn-mclaughlin-3093496

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"...crude marketing wheeze."

[CincyDem]

1. Imagine trying to sell a chain of high end luxury hotels and condos under the brand....

Erdogan Towers

al-Assad Estates

Mussolini National Golf Course

Probably not much of a global market.

[soothsayer]

2. I love the little things like this that will sting

Good!

[underpants]

3. I don't think this is little.

He was counting on marketing off it. Play an Open Championship course! As part of a vacation package. Without the Open it’s another course - a good one and historic one but not currently in the Open wheelhouse

[soothsayer]

4. Seems little compared to sedition, which doesn't bother him

Yeah I remember how he tried to get that ambassador to steer a tourney there. He wanted it bigly

[catbyte]

6. This one is really going to sting, maybe more than the PGA decision. From the article:

Mr Trump went out and bought the only Open venue in private ownership, and showed he was prepared to play the long game. In a show of uncharacteristic tact, he pledged to consult the R&A before making any changes to Turnberry’s famous Ailsa links.

He did so out of sheer desperation to bask in the reflected glory of the sport’s most historic tournament. One source at Turnberry put it best when I asked about Mr Trump’s relationship with the R&A. It was, they said, transactional and “totally sycophantic.”

Also, apparently, the Dim Son planned to expand it into a “world-class coastal retreat” featuring hundreds of properties at Turnberry. Now they're saddled with a money pit that's bleeding cash.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

5. Air Force cargo airplanes won't have to divert to Scotland anymore.

Rather than use air bases in Germany and the U.K. as they had been doing for decades, Trump forced the planes to fly to the civilian airport near his Scotland facility and use it as a layover. As a result, the U.S. pays a premium price for fuel bought on the civilian market and an exorbitant rate for bunking the crew at Trump's club. Oh, and there's the high price of meals there, when compared to the officers' and NCOs' clubs or the dining facility, which provides in-flight meals.

Just part of the grift.