Scotland was ‘hoodwinked’ by Donald Trump, says former aide
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- By Andrew Picken
- BBC Scotland News
Donald Trump flanked by his children and pipers on the official opening day of the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeenshire in 2012
The man who helped broker the deal for Donald Trump’s first Scottish golf resort says the country was “hoodwinked” by the ex-president’s claim it would be a £1bn project.
Neil Hobday was the project director for Mr Trump’s controversial course in Aberdeenshire, which opened in 2012.
Mr Trump said he would spend £1bn on the scheme – but this did not happen.
Trump International Scotland said it had invested “hundreds of millions of pounds” into the economy.
And the company added it had “delivered on its promise to build one of the greatest modern links golf courses of all time”.
But Mr Hobday told BBC News he felt “hoodwinked and ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it”.
Mr Hobday, who was a consultant project director for the Trump Organization, has spoken to Trumped, a new BBC Sounds podcast which revisits the controversy surrounding the approval for the Trump International Golf Links course.
“I don’t think even if he could raise the money to build the whole thing out, he wanted the golf course and that was it,” he said.
“He was willing to fight the environmental battle and create this impression that this was a $1bn project and Scotland absolutely needed it. But I think he never really had the money or the intention of finishing it.”
He added: “I feel very hoodwinked and ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it. He was never going to do it.”
Situated eight miles north of Aberdeen, the Menie Estate was a windswept stretch of sand dunes, meadows and woodlands before Donald Trump unveiled plans in 2006 to transform it into what he promised would be the world’s greatest golf course.
The first official announcement by Trump International Golf Links anticipated that costs would be “in excess of $500m” – but by the time Mr Trump landed in Scotland and got in front of the TV cameras it had become a £1bn development.
The plans got the backing of a sizable chunk of the local business community, won over by the scale of promised investment that would attract major golf tournaments.
But those who had chosen this quiet spot by the North Sea to live were dismayed from the outset.
Menie residents refused to sell up to Mr Trump and he famously accused local farmer and salmon fisherman Michael Forbes of living in a “pig-like atmosphere”.
Environmentalists were also concerned about the impact of the development.
Image source, Getty Images
Michael Forbes was one of the Menie residents who refused to sell his land to Mr Trump
The northern part of the course covered part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest regarded as one of Britain’s best examples of a mobile sand dune system.
Planning permission was granted by Scottish ministers – who controversially overruled the local council’s decision to…
Read More: Scotland was ‘hoodwinked’ by Donald Trump, says former aide 2024-03-29 07:00:06