Sarah Malone, the executive vice president of Trump International Scotland, made the comments during a speaking engagement at an evangelical church associated with the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network that has been granted interviews with several prominent members of the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Obviously as a paid executive I have to be careful. The reality is, because of the emoluments act [sic], many of the foreign investments and opportunities – and there’s lots of stuff in the business proper, as it were, across the globe – everything was put on hold,” Malone said to the crowd of approximately 120 people.
“It’s frustrating for the family, because they’re business people, so the presidency is, is … and also his liberties and his freedoms to be able to come and play golf when he wants,” she explained, adding, “and I for one, having spoken to him about it, know that he’d love to come to Aberdeen, but where do you fit that into your schedule?”
Malone is currently charged with overseeing the £150m expansion of the Scottish resort, which she said does not contradict Trump’s promise that his private business wouldn’t engage in new international deals during his time in office, explaining that it was “one of the only projects that we can continue developing, because we were already underway.”
Malone’s husband Damian Bates, who also has a close personal relationship with Trump, spoke at Thursday evening’s event as well, using the opportunity to malign the U.S. media for its coverage of the President and bizarrely encouraging attendees to seek out a state-run Russian news outlet.
“I hate the BBC, it’s so PC and so frightened of offending people,” Bates said. “I’ll go to CNN or look at Fox, and I’ll step into Russia Today territory. You should always try and find a different take,” he explained.
“Actually, if you’ve got Sky, go and look at Russia Today – oh my goodness, the difference is incredible.”
[image via Ian MacNicol/Getty Images]