Trump International Golf Links, which opened in 2012, lost $1.36 million last year, according to public accounts. From their kitchen window, John and Susan Munro used to have a view of the Scottish coastline, until it was blocked by an earthen berm built by Mr. Trump’s people.
In 2016, when the Mail Online reported on a “92-year-old Scotswoman taking on Trump”, readers were appalled to learn Molly Forbes had to collect water from a nearby stream in a bucket because, she claims, Trump’s construction workers had cut off her supply.
BALMEDIE, Scotland — President-elect Donald J. Trump has already built a wall — not on the border with Mexico, but on the border of his exclusive golf course in northeastern Scotland, blocking the sea view of local residents who refused to sell their homes.
That was followed by Trump’s purchase of the far larger Turnberry golf resort and its five-star hotel in 2014. Trump spent tens of millions of pounds upgrading the hotel, adding a new ballroom, then redesigned both Turnberry’s golf courses.
In June 2019, Scottish Natural Heritage ruled that the golf course had "partially destroyed" the sand dune system, causing permanent habitat loss, and recommended that the SSSI status be revoked. The special status was removed in December 2020.
The Trump Organization operates the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, New York, a public golf course built and owned by New York City, under a 20-year contract awarded in 2013 by the administration of then-Mayor Bloomberg. The course opened in 2015.
Michael Forbes (born circa 1952) is a farmer, part-time salmon fisherman and quarry worker from near Balmedie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who became known after his refusal to sell his land to billionaire Donald Trump, who was planning to build an extensive luxury golf course complex in the area with assistance from ...
Among those is President John F. Kennedy, who by most accounts is the best golfer to have ever lived in the White House.
3 billion USD (2022)Donald Trump / Net worth
Discover directional information and operational hours for safe and timely arrival at Trump International, Scotland.
The perfect gift for golfers and non-golfers alike, our vouchers and day passes can be purchased instantly online.
Book a round of golf on the resort's world-class links course, set along the majestic Aberdeenshire coastline.
In 1999, Trump opened his first golf course: the Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach in Florida. Land for the US$45 million course was acquired through a lawsuit against Palm Beach County, Florida, after Trump’s purchase of the Mar-a-Lago resort.
Musselburgh Links, The Old Golf Course in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, is generally accepted as being one of the oldest golf courses in the world. The course is not to be confused with The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club or the Levenhall Links.
The first record of golf in Scotland dates back to the 15th century. In 1457, golf was banned by parliament as it was seen as a distraction from military training. The ban was repealed in 1502 and King James IV made the first documented purchase of golf clubs in the same year.
Depending on the exchange rate, the 2018 green fee to play the Old Course is 180 pounds, which is about $250.
The Shadow Creek Golf Course is the most expensive golf course in the world.
So much more than a native sport, Scotland and golf share a sacred and unbreakable bond. After all, this bonnie land is the birthplace of the sport.
14 Of The Best Scottish Golfers Of All Time. Scotland is a country that has helped make golf what it is today and it is the spiritual home of the game.
From their kitchen window, John and Susan Munro used to have a view of the Scottish coastline, until it was blocked by an earthen berm built by Mr. Trump’s people.
David and Moira Milne had already been threatened with legal action by Mr. Trump’s lawyers, who claimed that a corner of their garage belonged to him, when they came home from work one day to find his staff building a fence around their garden. Two rows of grown trees went up next, blocking the view.
Europe | In Scotland, Trump Built a Wall. Then He Sent Residents the Bill.
Alex Salmond , a former first minister of Scotland whose government granted Mr. Trump planning permission in 2008, overruling local officials, now concedes the point, saying, “Balmedie got 10 cents on the dollar.”
Mr. Salmond said that Mr. Trump’s impact on business in Scotland might actually be a net negative because his xenophobic comments have appalled the Scottish establishment so much that the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, known simply as the R&A, is unlikely to award his other Scottish golf course, the world-renowned Trump Turnberry, another prestigious golf tournament like the Open anytime soon.
The Trump Organization ’s financial filings early this year reported a $4.6 million annual loss at the Scottish courses, which boosted the total red ink for the operations over eight years to an eye-popping $75 million. Trump hasn’t paid a penny in tax on the properties. In fact, the courses collected $800,000 in taxpayer subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect jobs, then cut workers, union officials complained.
Accounting for the president’s Scottish resorts is unusual because Trump is the creditor for his own businesses, which means payment for many of the resorts’ costs flow to the Trump Organization.
But late last year officials announced that the dunes had lost their status as a protected environmental site because they had been partially destroyed.
The drastic change was already vividly apparent in overhead photos of the Foveran Links dunes in 2019 (see clip above).
The dunes “will be there forever,” Trump vowed in 2008 to quell concerns about his new course. “This will be environmentally better after [the course] is built than it is before.”
That was followed by Trump’s purchase of the far larger Turnberry golf resort and its five-star hotel in 2014.
Avaaz, a crowd-sourced campaign group, took the case after Scottish ministers rejected calls from Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens co-leader, and other MSPs for an investigation into how Trump bought and funded both courses.
Humza Yousaf , the then justice secretary, told Harvie that a decision to pursue a UWO was solely a matter for the lord advocate, Scotland’s chief prosecutor, whose decisions had to be “free of political interference”.
Even so, the Scottish National party and Conservatives rejected a Holyrood motion from the Greens, backed by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, calling for one earlier this year by 89 to 32 votes.
Harvie said: “I’m glad we are a step forward in getting some clarity over why Trump’s business dealings in Scotland haven’t been investigated. It should never have got to the stage of a legal challenge from an NGO for the Scottish government to confirm or deny whether they will seek a McMafia order.”
The Trump Organization robustly rejects allegations that the former president used unlawful sources to finance his golf courses in Scotland; his son Eric Trump has said the family used its own money to do so.