Donald Trump has recently been in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. To understand more we must first take a look at what he has been up to recently.

Simply put he has built a golf course, Aberdeen being the nearest large centre of population it is up on a fairly rugged and wild bit of the Scottish coastline. Not a particularly heavily populated area otherwise.

It is this location that has been the cause of all the fuss. more of that shortly. First let me tell you a bit more about the golfing centre itself.

The Course

By all accounts the actual course and the facilities there are quite magnificent. It is the very ruggedness of the scenery that first attracted Trump to this part of the world, his mother was a Scot from the Isle of Lewis so that also was one of the factors. However he is not just building in Scotland, he has other courses in other countries.

The course itself is described as quite demanding, to test the most serious of golfers. In fact it is intended to promote it as a venue for major competitions, with a second 18 hole course also in the pipeline. The golfing itself has received glowing reports from several magazines.

Connected to the course there is naturally a clubhouse and a hotel planned, with luxury holiday accommodation also on site. A first class restaurant is also already up and running in the old Menie House (now renamed MacLeod House after Donald’s Scottish forebears).

The Planning

The route to all this has not exactly run smoothly however as the initial planning and approval of the project was turned down by the local authority. Donald Trump is a pretty determined character though and despite widespread local objections the whole thing was eventually approved, and the local authority decision overturned by the Scottish Government. Aberdeenshire Council finally gave approval in October 2009. The whole process had actually started as far back as 2005.

The golf course, clubhouse and pro shop opened to the public in July 2012.

The Controversy

All is not running quite so smoothly though and this is where the bad press starts to creep in. Part of what makes Aberdeenshire so demanding for golfer is the wild blustery conditions that it is renowned for. It is precisely these conditions that led to a windfarm development gaining approval. Ten turbines approximately a mile and a half off shore in the North Sea are planned. This is particularly disliked by everyone but because they will be visible from the course then Donald Trump has threatened to stop any further development there. This puts at risk the future of a permanent clubhouse and facilities. To my mind though this is a bit like cutting off your nose to spite your face though.

The Whisky Connection

The latest bit of Trumpism though is really too hard to believe. It involves the main opposition to the course, the Spirit of Scotland Award sponsored by a leading single malt whisky producer and Donald’s petty attempt to fight back. I call it Donald Trump Glenfiddich whisky madness in another article, but it is another story altogether. Suffice it to say that Donald Trump has not been getting the best of press over this particular incident.