Donald Trump’s not-too-excellent Scottish adventure

Not so fast!
Trouble in Trump town as tycoon’s fortune dwindles
After years as perhaps the most recognisable face of capitalist success and excess, Donald Trump is suddenly bogged down in a string of legal and financial battles across his property and entertainment empire.
In Scotland, where he fought for two years to be allowed to build a controversial £1bn golf and luxury homes complex on an unspoilt stretch of the Aberdeenshire coast, members of the Scottish Parliament are questioning if the project will ever now get built. The suggestion is nonsense, George Sorial, the manager of Mr Trump’s Aberdeen golf course, said yesterday, since all the tycoon’s property interests are standalone businesses, and the Aberdeen golf complex is a long-term project. “Is Mr Trump still a billionaire?” asked Mr Soriel. “That’s a silly question. Of course he is.”
7 November

Donald Trump will visit Scotland next month with his supermodel wife to show her the site of his £1 billion golf resort.
(The Telegraph) He was the given the go-ahead to create the “world’s greatest golf course” earlier this week when ministers said the social and economic benefits outweighed any environmental risk.
The Trump Organisation plans to build two championship golf courses, a hotel and clubhouse and hundreds of private homes and holiday homes on the site.
The development will encroach on mobile sand dunes that are protected as a site of special scientific interest.
Conservationists have criticised the Scottish Executive’s approval of the project, but Mr Trump has boasted that his development will “improve the natural environment”.

(Vanity Fair May 2008) Donald Trump wants to put a luxury golf resort on a gloriously unspoiled swath of Scottish seacoast. His plan has come under fire by environmental activists and led to a battle that has reached the highest levels of government. Plus, he’s up against another character: local fisherman Michael Forbes.
The Thistle and The Bee, Alex Shoumatoff’s engaging account of the battle for the Menie dunes could well be subtitled The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Alex’s golfing relationship with Donald Trump and his passion for the environment enable him to give a unique view of the complexities of this confrontation. Wonderful profiles of a cast of characters who would not be misplaced in an Alec Guinness movie. Fodder for the legions who dislike Donald Trump, the admirers of the image of the rugged, independent Scot and all who mistrust political decisions at every level. A Must Read!

24 April
Salmond faces another onslaught over Trump affair
Alex Salmond faced fresh attacks over his handling of Donald Trump’s £1bn golf resort plans yesterday, with Labour accusing him of bowing down to wealthy investors.
A public inquiry has been set up into the application to develop Menie Estate, Aberdeenshire, after the plans were called in by Scottish ministers.
Council backing Trump at inquiry
(BBC) Aberdeenshire councillors have voted to support Donald Trump’s application for a £1bn golf resort when it comes before a public inquiry.
A group of councillors called on the council to stick by the original committee decision to refuse the application.
They warned the position could be open to legal challenge under planning law. However members were told the decision to refuse had been overtaken by the Scottish Government calling it in.
April 22
Trump golf plan council accused of breaking law
(The Scotsman) ABERDEENSHIRE Council was yesterday accused of breaking the law by deciding to back plans for Donald Trump’s £1 billion golf resort – after the scheme had been thrown out by its own planning committee.

Trump International Golf Links Scotland
Donald J. Trump is the ultimate definition of the American success story, with his interests in real estate, gaming, entertainment and sports, where he has built a number of world-class golf facilities. His newest golf-related project takes him to Scotland, the home of golf and the country where his mother was born.

December 15 2007
DONALD TRUMP has moved closer to securing his luxury golf resort in Scotland – after the country’s first minister stepped in to save the project. … Scotland’s Alex Salmon has invoked rarely-used powers to take control of Trump’s application. The Scottish executive has taken over from Aberdeenshire council under the 1997 Towns and Country Planning Act, as the case “raises issues of importance that require consideration at a national level.”
December 12, 2007
Trump triumphs in golf course battle
The Scottish council which had previously thrown out the application for Donald Trump’s controversial £2bn golf complex in Scotland today gave it the green light after the Scottish executive stepped in.
However, despite the council’s U-turn, the final decision will still ultimately lie with the Scottish cabinet secretary, John Swinney, after the planning application was “called in”, following an outcry over the initial rejection.
29 November 2007
Scottish councillors reject Trump’s £1bn golf course
Councillors have thrown out the US tycoon Donald Trump’s plan for a £1bn golf resort and complex in north-east Scotland.
Aberdeenshire council’s infrastructure services committee rejected a planning application for the Trump International Golf Links Scotland in a close vote today.
The Formartine area committee had earlier approved outline planning permission for the development at Menie Estate near Balmedie, just north of Aberdeen.
But members of the more powerful infrastructure committee voted against the proposal.
Scottish councillors reject Trump’s £1bn golf course