IT WAS ON THE WAY

Military: We Didn’t Fly Out of Our Way to Stay at Trump Hotel

The U.S. military Sunday disputed media reports that troops flew miles out of the way to stay at a Trump property in Scotland.

Military officials on Sunday disputed media reports that an Alaska Air National Guard crew on a joint Air Force mission flew miles out of its way to stay at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland last March, according to the Associated Press. Politico had first reported that the joint mission made a stopover in Scotland to favor the Trump property, but the military disputes that claim. “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 a statement to the A.P. “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 clarification comes as Trump faces intense scrutiny over a request made to his vice president Mike Pence to stay at a Trump resort in Ireland and over the disclosure that his Attorney General William Barr held his holiday party at a Trump property in Washington, D.C. last year.