U.S. President Donald Trump was served with legal papers at two of his Scottish businesses this week as a company connected to former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele moves to enforce costs awarded in a long-running dispute.
Sheriff officers attended Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire and Trump International Golf Links in Menie, Aberdeenshire, to serve the papers, according to Scottish media reports. The action relates to costs of more than £600,000 that were awarded to Steele's company, Orbis Business Intelligence, after Mr Trump’s failed attempt to sue over allegations contained in the so‑called Steele dossier.
Orbis succeeded at a High Court hearing in April in securing an award of costs against Mr Trump that remain unpaid and are accruing daily, the reports said. Orbis is understood to be seeking an "arrestment" order from Scottish courts to prevent Mr Trump's Scottish companies from paying dividends to shareholders while enforcement is pursued.
Legal advisers for the president have been given a month to respond to the papers served. The timing comes days before a state visit by Mr Trump to the United Kingdom, during which King Charles and Queen Camilla are due to host the president and his wife at Windsor Castle from Sept. 17–19, with a state banquet scheduled as part of the visit.
An Orbis spokesman was quoted as saying the British legal system had shown that "no-one is above the law" and expressing concern that Mr Trump remained in breach of the English High Court judgment. A spokesman for Mr Trump's Scottish hotels and golf courses said the matter "has no connection whatsoever to Trump Turnberry or Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire" and that the issue was being addressed by the president's U.S. legal counsel. The Trump Organization in the United States did not immediately provide further comment.
Orbis's pursuit of enforcement in Scotland raises questions about whether presidential immunity could be invoked. Legal commentators and the parties involved have noted that Orbis is likely to argue the dispute concerns events that took place before Mr Trump became president, and thus falls outside any immunity he might claim.
The dispute traces back to a dossier compiled in 2016 by Mr Steele, a former MI6 officer, which contained allegations about Mr Trump’s conduct and reported purported links between Mr Trump and Russian actors. The dossier, which was prepared for a research firm working for Democrats during the 2016 campaign, became a contentious element in U.S. investigations into Russian interference and was reviewed by U.S. authorities, including the FBI.
Mr Trump filed defamation proceedings in England after aspects of the dossier were publicly reported. At the High Court hearing, Orbis argued that the dossier was not intended for public circulation and that Mr Trump's claim should be dismissed; the court ruled against Mr Trump and awarded costs to Orbis. During the litigation, Mr Trump's counsel, Hugh Tomlinson KC, argued the reports had caused the president "personal and reputational damage and distress," and denied the dossier's allegations concerning sexual conduct and business dealings with Russian officials.
The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed on the basis that the report had not been intended for publication and media outlets had published it without Orbis's permission. The costs award, which Orbis is now seeking to enforce in Scotland, has accumulated since the April ruling.
The papers were served while John Swinney, Scotland's deputy first minister, was in the United States for discussions that included trade matters such as Scotch whisky tariffs. A Scottish government source quoted in local reporting warned the episode could create diplomatic complications, though the U.K. Parliament will be in recess during the state visit.
The enforcement action in Scotland represents a domestic legal step by Orbis to collect costs ordered by an English court. It follows multiple legal and political developments tied to the dossier, which has been a focal point of controversy in both the United Kingdom and the United States for nearly a decade.
Mr Trump last visited his Scottish golf properties in July, according to reporting, and the parties now face a timetable set by the service of the papers in which the president's lawyers must decide how to respond to enforcement proceedings lodged in Scotland.