In a case that has been ongoing for quite a while now, President Donald Trump was recently ordered by a federal judge to repay 65 members of his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, $5.7 million.
Trump bought the club in 2012 for $5 million with these 65 on a sort of resignation waiting list. The mechanics of resigning from such a club are complex, but the crux of the matter, according to the Associated Press, is that Trump cut off access to the club for these members while they were still paying their dues.
All of the members on this resignation waiting list were in line to get their deposits back eventually but were still dues-paying members in the short term. Until Trump bought the club and said they weren't.
The Trump Organization will appeal. It released a statement this week that said, "We respectfully disagree with the Court's decision. At the time Trump purchased the Club, it was suffering financially, making it unlikely that these members would ever get back their deposits."
Who knows where this case will end up, but for now, it looks like President Trump's organization will be out nearly $6 million.
President Trump's golf tentacles remain long and impactful. From the movement of the WGC-Mexico Championship from Trump Doral to Mexico, to Trump's business deals in Scotland, to his dealings with Bernhard Langer to this, Trump's presence in the golf world is not going anywhere anytime soon.
