How Scotland’s local heroes stared down Donald Trump
The experiences of the Scottish families who refused to make way for the billionaire’s golf development offer an insight into how the leader of the free world deals with those who stand in his way
Donald Trump arrived at the opening of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on July 10, 2012, to typical fanfare.
A fleet of black Range Rovers wove a path to the temporary clubhouse, as throngs of reporters gathered to hear what pearls of wisdom the billionaire businessman might impart as he and family members Don Jnr, Eric and Ivanka toured the Trump International Golf Links – a course Trump had claimed would become “the best in the world”.
The pipers had filled their lungs on that drizzly summer day at the Menie Estate to give the real estate mogul a suitably Scottish welcome, yet it has since become clear their instruments were not the only things full of hot air. Trump’s plans for the course had come with promises of £1 billion (HK$9.34 billion) investment in the local economy and 1,500 jobs – promises that would not be kept.
And, while there were those who were thrilled at the opening of the course, for many in northeast Scotland it was already a source of controversy and heartache, with far-reaching political and environmental implications that, to this day, have not been fully resolved.
Out of this controversy, however, arose something of a local legend: the residents who stood up to Trump.
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