US PRESIDENT Donald Trump is being sued for £800,000 by a company founded by a former MI6 spy at a Scottish court.
Orbis Business Intelligence’s director Christopher Steele is seeking unpaid legal costs from Trump Turnberry golf resort, following a data protection lawsuit in England in 2024, according to BBC News.
However, SLC Turnberry Limited, the firm that owns the South Ayrshire resort, has disputed Trump’s role as the “ultimate owner,” arguing the course is held by a trust.
Steele, the former MI6 agent, was the author of a dossier alleging the US president bribed Russian officials and took part in “perverted sexual acts” in Russia.
The case was thrown out of the London High Court, with the judge ordering Trump to pay £680,000 in legal costs.
Orbis is now seeking to claim the legal costs from Trump Turnberry golf resort.
The case is being heard at Ayr Sheriff Court due to the course falling within its jurisdiction despite Winchester-based Orbis and Steele having no connection to the area.
Court papers, which were served to Trump Turnberry resort in September 2025, name the US president as a “debtor” and show the amount sought by Orbis in two applications comes to £789,812, due to interest.
In an online procedural hearing, Orbis advocate Duncan Hamilton KC said: “President Trump has stated emphatically that he owns Turnberry.
“He has committed that to federal filings of assets… He has made that clear in a witness statement to the High Court.”
He added that his applicant had spent “a great deal of time and money chasing president Trump in various jurisdictions” and that after 18 months of no payment his client believes they are now owed “north of £800,000” in legal costs.
Hamilton said that Turnberry claiming the president was not the owner, Trump was “being put in a degree of legal and reputational jeopardy by the position adopted by Turnberry,” implying his previous assertions of ownership were false.
Turnberry's advocate David Massaro told the court Turnberry was not claiming the president's statements were false, adding Trump's stake at the resort “ultimately rests in a trust in the US, and as they have averred, the president is the beneficiary”.
Massaro went on to argue that because shares are held by trustees, there is no “sufficient link” to the company.
A further hearing will take place before Sheriff Millar in November.
