“Donald Trump said he would secure his £1bn Aberdeenshire golf resort plans because of who he is and his Scottish roots, it has emerged. The comments came in the latest edition of Vanity Fair magazine from an interview carried out last November, before the plans hit objections.
In the article, Mr Trump said: "If Jack Nicklaus tried to do this he'd have zero chance, but they like what I've done, and because I am who I am and my mother is Scottish, between you and me... I'm going to get it."
In the article, Mr Trump said: "If Jack Nicklaus tried to do this he'd have zero chance, but they like what I've done, and because I am who I am and my mother is Scottish, between you and me... I'm going to get it."
Got to say that as far as own goals go, this is a fairly spectacular one. Appearing to be arrogant in front of Scottish people is somewhat akin to shooting yourself in the foot.
As has been discussed here, I am not a supporter of the plans, and I am not happy that the opposition at Holyrood have decided that US dollars is preferable to the stunning countryside which would be destroyed by the Golf Resort, and the holiday homes (all 950 of them), and the holiday villas (36 of those) and not forgetting the housing development (quoted to be about 1500 of those) as most of the bids supporters seem to have done. All on a site of natural beauty and of scientific interest. The opposition at Holyrood has instead attacked the handling of the proposal by the SNP minority administration. Famously the Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen said that he smelled sleaze during First Ministers questions. Not quite sure how his smelling was after the mauling that he received from Alex Salmond, but he did not repeat the allegation.
This proposal has now been sent to a public inquiry, which will begin in June. No doubt the supporters of this plan will just keep spinning.
