Scathing verdict on Trump from corner of Scotland he couldn’t conquer
Donald Trump has been branded an ‘overbearing bully’ by a Scotsman who defied the new US president’s attempts to buy his home in order to make way for the development of a luxury golf resort.
David Milne is among locals in Aberdeenshire who were embroiled in a long-running battle over access and land rights on the Menie Estate.
Mr Milne and his fellow campaigners managed to see off the tycoon after he tried to purchase their homes to develop his 1,400-acre Trump International, Scotland resort in the village of Balmedie.
At one point, he flew the Mexican flag in a defiant reference to Trump’s intention to build a wall between the country and the US.
The campaigner said: ‘I find it laughable that the Americans are gullible enough to vote in a convicted felon as their president.
‘You have seen how he behaved with us, and you don’t even need to look at us, you only have to look at the track record of this man for the last forty plus years.
‘He promises everything and delivers very little, which is exactly what he did the last time he was in power.
‘It will be interesting to see how long it takes before people realise what’s going on.’
Mr Milne, 60, and his wife Moira are among residents on a pocket of land within the loss-making golf resort who refused to make way.
At one point the businessman, whose mother Mary Anne MacLeod Trump was born in Scotland, spoke of issuing compulsory purchase orders to buy land within or on the resort’s boundaries.
In 2021, he was reported to have described the Milnes’ home in a former coastguard station as a ‘visual slum.’
Mr Milne said: ‘Trump paints a story of how he wants things to be and how he expects other people to react to him.
‘It’s got no bearing on reality but that’s what he does and people seem to do what he says.
‘It’s a variation on the Goebbels theory of “the longer and louder you tell a lie, the more it becomes true.”’
Asked about his impressions of Trump from playing a lead role in taking on his business empire, Mr Milne responded: ‘He’s an overbearing bully, there’s not much more you can say.’
The health and safety consultant does not expect any more wrangles with Trump, who has trade tariffs, the Russia-Ukraine war and a proposed mass deportation from the US on his agenda.
He anticipates that the billionaire will be preoccupied away from Balmedie and his other golf course, Trump Turnberry, which lies 200 miles to the south in Ayrshire.
Mr Milne will be re-flying the Saltire after a previous flag was ‘shredded’ by the wind — but feels the Mexican standard has served its purpose.
‘I don’t really see Trump bothering with this, he’s got enough on his to-do list and we’ll be pretty far down,’ Mr Milne said.
‘Some of the local team might feel a little emboldened but they didn’t seem to bother with us the last time so I don’t see it changing again.
‘They might try one or two things but they don’t really have the public support in this country.’
Trump had tried to persuade residents to leave their homes eight miles north of Aberdeen as he fought locals and environmentalists during the development of the resort, which opened in July 2012.
He erected a boundary of fencing and grew trees around the Milnes’ land, blocking the sea view from their home.
Mr Milne’s response included becoming a figurehead representing locals in the Tripping Up Trump campaign.
At one point, Mr Milne flew the Mexican flag alongside the Scottish Saltire outside the couple’s home of 32 years.
The saga died down in 2009 after the locals refused to sell.
‘We’re still here, we’re still looking down on the golf course in many different ways,’ Mr Milne said.
The local views the anti-Trump campaign as being in sharp contrast to the Americans won over by the Republican, who was sworn in at his inauguration today.
‘I’ve said from day one that people are only actually listening to what they want to hear, and as long as he promises them “things are wonderful, things are going to be great on my watch”, then that’s it, that’s all they’re interested in,’ he said.
‘He said he was going to fix the Ukraine war on day one, but it’s now going to take at least 100 days.
‘So things change, that’s the way he does it.’
The president’s representatives have said in the past that the golf estate development was hampered by ‘red tape’ despite potentially generating thousands of jobs for the local economy.
In a statement to the BBC, the Trump Organization has said that it had invested ‘hundreds of millions of pounds into the Scottish economy’ and that both the Menie course and Trump Turnberry are ‘globally acclaimed and responsible for driving thousands of international visitors into the country each year’.
The company added: ‘There are very few, if any, investors in the sport that have done more for Scottish golf in the past decade than Trump.
‘In spite of the many global economic challenges, where other investors walked away – and despite spiteful opposition, the Trump Organization has remained steadfast in its commitment and delivered on its promise to build one of the greatest modern links golf courses of all time in Aberdeen.’
Metro has approached the Trump Organization for further comment.
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