The whispers are getting louder. HMRC has quietly opened a desk drawer inquiry into the financial web connecting Donald Trump to British shores. It’s not about buildings or golf courses this time. It’s the odd stuff. The Bibles. The perfume. The bits of brand that float in the ether.
Sources close to the investigation tell me the focus is on licensing deals. Trump’s name, his image, attached to products sold here. But the money? It flows through offshore entities. Jersey. The Caymans. Places where the sun doesn’t shine on ledgers.
The sums aren’t huge by Trump standards. But the pattern is. This is how the machine works. Small drops that fill a bucket. And tax authorities hate buckets they can’t see into.
Labour MPs are circling. I’ve had three texted quotes already from backbenchers demanding “full disclosure.” The Treasury Select Committee is sniffing around. They want a hearing. They want names. They want to know if any of that cash touched UK soil without paying its dues.
Downing Street is saying nothing. Official line: “We do not comment on individual tax matters.” Translation: we are watching this very carefully indeed.
The real story is the timing. This leaks now, just as Trump’s legal troubles in New York pile up. Coincidence? The Lobby knows better. Someone in Whitehall wants this out. Someone thinks it’s a useful distraction, or a pointed warning.
I’m told the inquiry is still at “gathering information” stage. No raids. No summons. But the letters have gone out. Lawyers are sharpening pencils. The usual suspects are circling their wagons.
What’s truly bizarre is the product mix. Bibles? Perfume? This isn’t a hotel chain or a luxury brand. It’s a grab bag of whatever could carry a name. It feels desperate. It feels like cashing in on the last rays of a fading sun.
But here’s the thing. Those Bibles and that perfume might be the thread that unravels a much bigger sweater. Each product has a paper trail. Each sale has a counterparty. Each counterparty has a tax domicile. And somewhere in that chain, HMRC believes, there might be a missing piece of VAT or corporation tax.
The politics are messy. Labour wants to use this to paint the Tories as soft on offshore wealth. The Tories want to avoid any hint of being soft on Trump. And Trump’s people? They are playing the victim card hard. “Witch hunt” they call it. But that line won’t wash in SW1.
I’ve got a call into a former Trump Organization executive who did time in London. Off the record, he said: “This is how they always start. They pick at something small. Then they pull. And pull. Don’t be surprised if this goes bigger than anyone expects.”
Watch this space. HMRC doesn’t do desk drawers for fun. And the Lobby knows when the game is on.
