Air Force disputes Alaska crew favored Trump Scottish hotel
Air Force disputes Alaska crew favored Trump Scottish hotel
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Military officials are disputing a report that claims a joint Air Force and Alaska Air National Guard unit on a routine mission to Kuwait went miles out of their way to spend the night at a resort in Scotland owned by President Donald Trump.
Military flights making stopovers in Scotland are not unusual, and there were no rooms closer to the airport, an Air Force spokesman said Saturday in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.
“As our aircrews serve on these international airlift missions, they follow strict guidelines on contracting for hotel accommodations and all expenditures of taxpayer dollars,” Brig Gen Edward Thomas wrote. “In this case, they made reservations through the Defense Travel System and used the closest available and least expensive accommodations to the airfield within the crews’ allowable hotel rates.”
The flight took off from Anchorage on March 13, making stops at bases in Nevada and New Hampshire before going to Glasgow Prestwick Airport and eventually Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait. The crew was back in Alaska on March 19.
A local government contractor made the Scotland reservations, and indicated there was not a room closer to the airport than the Trump resort, 54 miles away, Thomas said.
That, Thomas said, was not a remarkable distance to travel to receive the government rate for the rooms.
H
e said the Trump resort had rooms for $136 a night, cheaper than a Marriott, which charged $161 a night. However, he said both are under the per diem rate of $166.
