US President Donald Trump hit a hole in one at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland on Monday, when he explained to reporters why inheritance tax on farmland is unfair.

He was sitting next to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is set to introduce a crippling inheritance tax regime on UK farms from April 2026.

Trump explained that farmers are effectively asset rich but cash poor, and so farming families are exempt from paying inheritance tax, known as estate tax, in the US.

ADVERTISEMENT

“A lot of these farms don’t make a lot of money, but it’s a way of life and they love that way of life.

“We have totally ended the estate tax so, when a parent leaves a farm to the kids, they do not have to worry about their local possibly unfriendly banker coming in and stealing their farm,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, the civil servant behind the much-criticised analysis leading to the UK’s new inheritance tax policy has recently won an award for his work.

James Mee, head of inheritance tax analysis at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), produced figures for the UK government suggesting only 500 farms will be impacted by the new tax each year. Despite auctioneers, lawyers and farmers criticising the analysis as wrong, Mee was awarded HMRC’s internal “Expert of the Year” award.