BBC Scotland Information
The Donald Trump who got here to Scotland in 2006 to say he was constructing the world’s biggest golf course was in some ways a unique Donald Trump to the one now having fun with his second time period within the White Home.
Again then he was a brash hotelier, maybe finest recognized for internet hosting the US model of The Apprentice and his temporary cameo within the 1992 movie, Dwelling Alone 2.
The President Trump who returns to Scotland later this month has usually spoken of his affection for the nation the place his mom was born and says he constructed the course on the Menie Property at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire in her reminiscence.
However twenty years on, few Scots return that affection.
That is not often the case in terms of US presidents and their ancestral ties this facet of the Atlantic.
Immigration is a big a part of the American expertise and US presidents have a powerful custom of acknowledging their household roots within the outdated world.
John F Kennedy and Joe Biden stored their Irish ancestry central to their private and political identities and each loved vastly profitable journeys to Eire. President Kennedy is alleged to have described his 1963 go to as the most effective 4 days of his life.
In 2023, Joe Biden made a triumphant tour of the nation, chatting with tens of hundreds in his ancestral home town of Ballina in County Mayo.
He declared “I am at dwelling” when he addressed the Irish Parliament and even discovered time to go to a pub in County Louth.
Designed to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Settlement, the journey was seen as an enormous success and clearly meant a great deal to both Biden and the Irish.
It is nearly inconceivable to think about the identical factor taking place with President Trump in Scotland.
To be truthful, Scottish hyperlinks to the White Home are traditionally much less well-known and celebrated. But in keeping with the Nationwide Library of Scotland, 34 out of the 45 presidents have Scottish ancestry.
These embrace George Washington, William McKinlay, Ronald Reagan and Invoice Clinton.
And Trump is extra Scottish than any of them. His mom was a Gaelic speaker, born and raised in Lewis within the Western Isles, who moved to America aged 18 in 1930.
Mary Anne MacLeod Trump was mentioned to have retained her native accent all through her lengthy life (she died aged 88 in 2000), and visited Lewis usually sufficient that many there bear in mind her properly.
All this could usually be trigger for celebration. However it’s a mirrored image of Trump’s persona and popularity that his relationship with the Scots has been largely antagonistic.
A recent opinion poll instructed seven in 10 Scots had an unfavourable opinion of the president.
I have been masking the story of Trump in Scotland since 2006 and have come to understand that to know the connection between the 2 you must begin with him flying in to Scotland with that grand plan to pay tribute to his beloved mum.
There had been just a few months of hypothesis earlier than Trump confirmed his plans in March 2006. He mentioned he’d been seeking to construct a hyperlinks golf course in Europe for years.
“My choice was Scotland over some other nation, as a result of I’m half Scottish – my mom, Mary MacLeod, is from Stornoway,” he mentioned.
“After I noticed this piece of land I used to be overwhelmed by the imposing dunes and rugged Aberdeenshire shoreline. I knew that this was the right web site.
“The advanced will cowl a big space of sand dunes. I’ve by no means seen such an unspoilt and dramatic seaside panorama, and the placement makes it good for our growth.”
There is a sure irony there. The unspoilt nature of these dunes at Balmedie would turn into central to the response that grew in opposition to Trump.
A few of the land he purchased was beneath safety as a Web site of Particular Scientific Curiosity (SSSI). The shifting sand dune system alongside that stretch of coast north of Aberdeen was considered one of many most interesting examples of its variety within the UK.
What adopted was a protracted and infrequently bitter planning dispute that went all the best way to the center of the Scottish authorities.
The conservation company Scottish Pure Heritage had warned a planning inquiry that the event would critically injury the SSSI.
The native council turned down the event, however permission was later granted by Scottish authorities ministers on the premise that the potential financial profit would outweigh any environmental hurt.
The event went forward within the face of protests from environmental teams and requires skilled golfers to not attend the official opening in 2012.
In 2020, it was introduced the dunes at Balmedie had lost their SSSI status. The dunes are actually mentioned to not embrace sufficient particular options.
Trump Worldwide described the transfer as “extremely politicised”.
The long-running environmental dispute in all probability turned many in opposition to the Trump plans. However there was additionally a human story creating and this actually captured the general public’s creativeness.
Fairly shortly within the growth course of, Trump grew to become concerned in a public combat with two of the site’s neighbours.
Michael Forbes and David and Moira Milne personal properties subsequent to the Trump course. They declined to promote their land and the tycoon went on the offensive.
On one go to he was filmed wanting up on the Milnes’ dwelling – truly a somewhat hanging transformed coastguard station which sits excessive on a hill overlooking the course – saying “I need to eliminate that home”.
He was instructed by an worker that this might trigger a “little bit of stir” and replied: “Who cares? We’re going to construct the best golf course on the planet, this home is ugly.”
Trump additionally accused native farmer and salmon fisherman Michael Forbes of residing in a “pig-like ambiance”.
Mr Forbes and the Milnes grew to become folks heroes to Trump’s critics. The Milnes flew a Mexican flag exterior their dwelling in a protest in opposition to plans to construct a wall on the southern US border.
Talking on a US comedy present in 2017, Mr Forbes branded the president a “clown”, including: “The one remorse I’ve is I did not knock him on his arse after I met him”.
It must be mentioned many welcomed Trump’s curiosity in Scotland, particularly in the beginning.
He loved the certified help of Jack McConnell and Alex Salmond’s governments. The form of inward funding he promised would not come alongside every single day.
The previous head of the financial company Scottish Enterprise, Jack Perry, later described being “profoundly dismayed” when councillors turned down the planning software.
Speaking to BBC Scotland for a documentary I made with my colleague Glenn Campbell in 2017, he mentioned: “I discovered it onerous to credit score. You are saying, ‘No’ to Donald Trump? Keep in mind, that is earlier than he was concerned in politics and had the form of poisonous model that he has now.”
Native chambers of commerce, enterprise leaders and lots of councillors backed the mission.
Stewart Spence, who died earlier this yr, ran the posh Marcliffe Lodge in Aberdeen for greater than 40 years.
As an influential enterprise chief within the metropolis, he was an early supporter of Trump and his plans, recognising the potential worth for the native economic system.
Talking in 2017, he mentioned: “I knew that this was a person that would not do something except it was the most effective on the planet. And that was at all times what he was recognized for.”
The 2 grew to become associates, with Trump gifting him membership on the membership.
Trump was made a enterprise ambassador by Jack McConnell in 2006 and awarded an honorary diploma by Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon College 4 years later.
All of those may be simply justified by the necessity to do enterprise with highly effective enterprise and political leaders.
And there are these at this time advocating for higher relations with Donald Trump.
Writing in The Times newspaper forward of the current UK-US commerce deal, the Scottish Labour chief Anas Sarwar argued: “President Trump’s affinity for Scotland is actual, no matter what folks consider his politics.
“His household’s investments in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire are actual and vital. They’ve created jobs, attracted tourism, and demonstrated that Scotland stays a beautiful vacation spot for international funding.
“I’m positive at instances they’ve felt pissed off at doing enterprise in Scotland, however the potential advantages of getting the president of the USA as an advocate for others to put money into Scotland must be apparent.”
However many on the prime of Scottish politics turned away from Trump years earlier than he gained the 2016 election.
In 2012, he travelled to the Scottish Parliament to argue in opposition to a wind farm being constructed within the North Sea, within reach of his growth.
He went on to combat a court docket motion in opposition to the plans. And when he misplaced, he turned his ire on Scotland’s politicians, particularly ministers.
The person who had as soon as known as Salmond “an incredible consultant of the folks of Scotland” who had completed “a improbable job”, now mentioned, “You are going to have riots throughout Scotland, as a result of Alex Salmond goes to destroy the pure fantastic thing about Scotland”.
The financial advantages of the Aberdeenshire golf course – which had tipped the argument for ministers – additionally got here into query because the years handed.
Trump promised a £1bn mission creating lots of of jobs. Based on an investigation by BBC Scotland in 2024, the newest accounts confirmed the power has a web ebook worth of £33.2m and 81 staff.
Along with the golf course, the unique proposal additionally included approval for a 450-room resort, 950 vacation flats, 36 golf villas and 500 homes on the market.
None of those parts, and the hundreds of latest jobs promised, have materialised. The golf resort had but to show a revenue, racking up £13.3m in losses because it opened.
President Trump is anticipated to open the second course on the web site whereas on his newest go to.
He is additionally prone to go to the Trump Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. Purchased in 2014 for $60m, at its centre is the Ailsa course with its wealthy historical past of internet hosting the Open Championship.
Within the wake of the Washington riots in 2021, the organisers of The Open introduced that it would not be held at Turnberry so long as its hyperlinks to the Trump Organisation stay. In current months, there have been suggestions this may increasingly change.
Turnberry has grew to become the main focus of most of the protests in opposition to Trump all through his presidency and past.
It is the place the late comic Janey Godley was pictured holding a really blunt placard and buildings on the course have been the subject of recent vandalism in protest on the president’s feedback on Gaza.
Trump’s low regard amongst most Scots stays a stay situation. If something, his return to the White Home has energised his critics and his identify on Scottish companies provides them a spotlight for his or her anger.
As Scotland will get prepared for Trump’s return, there are issues about the price of policing such a high-profile event, and discuss of additional public protests.
So what’s going to all this imply when the president flies into Scotland later this month?
Donald Trump has an nearly unparalleled expertise for courting controversy, stepping into fights and frightening his opponents.
It will be a stretch to think about he cares very a lot whether or not folks end up and protest his go to. As somebody who thrives on every kind of publicity he may, in actual fact, welcome it.
It will be much more of a stretch to imagine offended Scots hitting the streets to march in opposition to him will change his thoughts on something.
Folks will seemingly protest and, although he has his supporters and people who imagine Scotland must make extra of the connection, the voices raised in opposition to him will in all probability be the loudest throughout the times he spends in his mom’s homeland.
However the final 20 years recommend he will not essentially be listening.
- Craig Williams produced and directed the documentary Donald Trump: Scotland’s President for BBC Scotland in 2017.
2025-07-11 22:05:00