DONALD TRUMP once described it as “the great nation of my ancestors”, but his dealings in Scotland have been dogged by controversy.
The US President is fond of invoking his Scottish roots, once declaring “I feel Scottish” on a visit to his mother’s birthplace on the Isle of Lewis in 2008.
The late Mary MacLeod Trump was born on the island before emigrating in the 1930s to the US, where she died in August 2000 at the age of 88.
Mr Trump was a frequent visitor to Scotland during the period when his luxury golf resort on the Menie Estate, Aberdeenshire, was never far from the headlines.
The plans were called in by ministers and approved by the Scottish Government in 2008, despite having been rejected by the local council amid fierce opposition from residents and environmentalists.
Having described then first minister Alex Salmond as “an amazing man”, the two fell out spectacularly following the Government’s decision to back an offshore wind farm in sight of the £750million resort.
Mr Salmond became “Mad Alex – the man who destroyed Scotland’’, with Mr Trump taking out full-page advertisements
in two Scottish newspapers inviting the public to protest at the first minister’s support for wind energy.
The billionaire’s fight against wind farms led to a failed court challenge and a bizarre appearance before Holyrood’s economy, energy and tourism committee in 2012, during which he infamously told MSPs “I am the evidence”.
After Patrick Harvie posted a parody of comedy movie Monty Python’s Life of Brian on Twitter mocking the comment, Mr Trump made a complaint against the ‘’blasphemous’’ Green MSP which was later rejected by the public standards watchdog.
Mr Trump pledged to turn his back on Scotland after losing the initial stages of the wind farm legal battle, but in 2014 confirmed speculation he had bought the famous Ailsa course golf course – which has hosted the Open Championship four times – and hotel at Turnberry, South Ayrshire.
Flying in to Scotland to visit the new resort the following year, he declared he expected to win the US presidential race, but by December controversial comments made about Muslims and Mexicans during the campaign ensured his welcome in Scotland was somewhat cooler.
Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Salmond’s successor as first minister, stripped Mr Trump of his status as a business ambassador for Scotland, while Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen revoked an honorary degree he was awarded in October 2010.
Ms Sturgeon criticised Mr Trump during the US election campaign and voiced her support for his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, but was forced to congratulate the new President following his win.
Protests against Mr Trump took place across Scotland ahead of his inauguration and he has been repeatedly criticised by politicians for a travel ban on refugees and people from Muslim countries and for his response to deadly violence in Virginia last year.
The President has handed over control of his business empire to sons Donald and Eric, but given his close links speculation has been rife that any state visit will see the return of The Donald to Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel