Great Tyranny, Lay Thou Thy Basis Sure

Just what does gold toilet man need a Scottish golf course for?

This time period coincided with a major spending spree by the Trump Organisation. Indeed, in November 2008, as a global recession hit, the then Trump Organisation executive vice-president, George Sorial, told The Scotsman that Mr Trump had £1bn “sitting in the bank and ready to go” to finance his course in Aberdeenshire.

But The Scotsman later revealed that a month beforehand, Mr Trump wrote personally to a Bank of Scotland executive, asking the institution for a 15-year £23m mortgage and a construction loan of £15m in order to buy Hamilton Hall in St Andrews and turn it into a hotel. The bank refused, and the deal never came off, though that scarcely matters. What is important is Mr Trump repeatedly pursued external financing, despite the claims Mr Sorial would go on to make.