Key facts
- Orbis Business Intelligence is seeking over £800,000 from Donald Trump for unpaid legal costs.
- The costs are from a 2024 English data protection case brought by Trump against Orbis.
- An English court previously ordered Trump to pay Orbis more than £600,000 in legal costs.
- The funds are being sought from Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.
- SLC Turnberry Limited, the resort's owner, disputes Trump's direct ownership, stating his stake is held by a US trust.
- A further hearing is scheduled for November at Ayr Sheriff Court.
Donald Trump has been named in a Scottish court hearing as a company founded by a former MI6 agent seeks over £800,000 in unpaid legal costs. Orbis Business Intelligence, led by Christopher Steele, is pursuing the funds from Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. The case concerns legal costs owed by Trump from a 2024 English data protection lawsuit he brought against Steele's firm.
In an online procedural hearing, Orbis's advocate Duncan Hamilton KC stated that Trump has refused or failed to pay the money ordered by an English court over the past 18 months. He noted that due to accruing interest, the amount now claimed by his client exceeds £800,000, and that Orbis has spent considerable time and money pursuing Trump across various jurisdictions. Hamilton emphasized Trump's own assertions of ownership of Turnberry, citing federal filings and a High Court witness statement.
However, Turnberry's advocate, David Massaro, told the court that the company's position is that Trump's stake in the course ultimately rests in a trust in the US, and that the shares are held by trustees, which his client argues is not a "sufficient link" to the company. Sheriff Millar has scheduled a further hearing for November and ordered that Trump be informed of the updated amount claimed by Orbis.
Christopher Steele, a former head of MI6's Russia desk, compiled a dossier in 2016 for a law firm linked to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, alleging uncorroborated intelligence claims about Trump's ties to Russia. The dossier was published by Buzzfeed in 2017. Trump has denied all claims and initiated legal action against Orbis, which was dismissed in February 2024. Subsequently, a court ordered Trump to pay Orbis over £600,000 in legal costs.