...and this time he's getting people arrested!
Two documentary film-makers were arrested on the site of Donald Trumps's Aberdeenshire golf resort, after the Trump organisation accused them of entering their offices and filming documents without permission. The journalists were were investigating complaints that Trump's contractor's "accidentally" cut off the water supply to local residents, including Trump's nemesis Michael Forbes.
Award-winning journalists Anthony Baxter and Richard Phinney were arrested whilst interviewing Susie Munro, a resident of the area who objects to the development of Trumps' new resort. When they refused to stop filming, the police took their camera and handcuffed Baxter. Having been arrested for breach of the peace, the journalists were held for four hours and even had their DNA put on record! Their cameras were also held for five days, preventing them from filming.
"This is a blatant example of police interference aimed at stopping bona fide journalists from doing their job." said Paul Holleran, Scottish representative of the National Union of Journalists, "Their footage shows they were asking very pertinent questions in a mannerly fashion as befits professional journalists."
The Trump organisation claims the journalists were "photographing confidential documents" - something Baxter claims certainly isn't true. "We've the footage to prove it" he has said, "We were legitimately carrying out an interview with a member of Mr Trump's workforce at the site and he participated in that interview, freely exchanging information, over a period of time."
Aberdeenshire council has approved the latest stage of development for Donald Trump’s super-resort near Balmedie, meaning construction could start within a month. Trump himself has declared the course would be open within 18 months, which seems exceptionally ambitious – even for him!
Of course, Trump will still have to overcome the mighty Michael Forbes, who is still refusing to sell his farm to the Trump project. So far, even millionaire lawyers have failed to get any compulsory purchase orders bought upon Forbes, who has responded to their threats by spray painting his own buildings with anti-Trump slogans!
Conveniently however, the last couple of months have seen the passing of a new Scottish law, which allows the council to serve maintenance orders on homes and gardens, meaning Forbes will have to tidy up what Trump refers to as his “dump” of a property; “It is a pig sty. It's terrible, his barn is all rusty and falling down. The hotel has the chance to be something really outstanding but it's awfully hard when a window is overlooking a slum and you see rusting oil cans."
Perhaps Trump should consider that might be the effect Forbes is going for, after all the abuse he has received from the billionaire. Any way of being a thorn in Trump’s side seems like the kind of action Forbes will continue to take.
It's not often we get to report some good news from Aberdeen, where Donald Trump is still attempting to build his billion-pound golf rseort. In fact, the last few posts about the issue have been been infurating readers, as Trump seems to be willing to stop at nothing to build his resort - even demanding the rights to purchase the homes of people living in the area so he can force them to move out.
It's been a while since we've had an update on Donald Trump's exploits in Aberdeenshire, so here's the latest news. You know, just in case you were in a good mood and wanted something to make you angry...
A two-day exhibition has taken place at the Udny Arms Hotel in Newburgh, displaying the masterplans for Donald Trump's billion-pound golf resort to the public. In my opinion, this is madness! Does he not know any British history? Has he not heard of William Wallace and Guy Fawkes? Combine the Scottish pride of one with the devious underground plotting of the other and the last thing you should do is show them the blueprints for a highly controversial building, set to devastate Scottish lives!
Unsurprisingly, the exhibition was met was fury, especially from the Tripping Up Trump campaign group, determined to support the families whose homes Trump plans to claim. One local home owner, David Milne, was actually told to "clear off" by project director Neil Hobday, which is a curious way to go about attempting to gain support for the project...
As many of you will know, families living on land wanted by the Trump Organisation are facing losing their properties under compulsory purchase order, should Aberdeenshire Council give the plans the go-ahead later on this year. Donald Trump considers this to be “another significant step towards our goal of building the world's greatest golf course and resort”, but that’s because he’s a selfish goon.
I'm sure all regular readers will know about Donald Trump's leviathon golf resort he is preparing to build in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. I'm sure you will also remember the amount of opposition he has come up against; from environmentalists to simple mentalists - Donald Trump has attracted a furious response from the people whose houses and homes he is destroying for the sake of his new golf course.
Nevertheless, as most billionaires seem to be able to do, Donald Trump has beaten them all and is going ahead with the course. The only thing left in his way is a tiny piece of land - half an acre of ex-car park - which he doesn't yet own. Now, normally this would result in some kind of bidding war, whereby lots of people would attempt to drive-up the price that billionaire Trump has to pay for the land. They might even succeed in buying it, just to sell it to Trump at an even higher price! Alternatively, somebody could out-bid Trump, take the land and not sell it to him - messing up his plans and making themselves a hero in the process.
Sadly, however, Aberdeenshire Council have granted Donald Trump 'special purchaser' status - meaning he is the only one allowed to bid for the land. So instead of there being a fair bid on the open market, Trump has been allowed to bid for the land privately, due to the "local economic benefits" the golf resort will bring. To you and I, this translates as "the free membership and executive suites that have been offered to members of the council".
It's yet another sad day for Scottish golf.
Donald Trump has finally begun work on his billion-pound golf resort in Scotland, the controversy of which I mentioned a few weeks ago. Regular readers will remember his declaration that protestors of the resort were “a tiny little group of people who are hanging by a thread” – the majority of whom have had to be re-housed to make way for his leviathan structure. Thanks Donald.
Apparently the plans are to plant grass on a stretch of sand dunes, in order to stablise them for development. This has environmentalists up in arms because these particular dunes are ‘environmentally sensitive’ and have been under protection for a long time. Although I expect 1,200 houses, a five-star hotel and two international-standard golf courses will probably benefit the economy of the surrounding area, I’m still ponderous of the impact this will have on Britain’s already terrible eco-reputation. It does seem slightly unfair that we are taxed, fined and then re-taxed in the name of recycling, just to have a rich American move in up North with a massive eco-disaster of a complex. Perhaps he’ll make the out-of-bounds areas into nature reserves... For some reason I doubt it.
Donald Trump – not our favourite person in the world – has managed to further entrench himself in our disgust by launching a new attack against quarryman and salmon fisherman Michael Forbes, who has been resisting the building of Trump’s billion-dollar golf resort. So far, Forbes has already turned down a million-dollar offer from Trump, reminding him that some people still put principles above money.
Trump called Forbes "dirty, sloppy and unkempt in his personal appearance and demeanour...He is a loser who is seriously damaging the image of both Aberdeenshire and his great country”. Unlike Donald Trump, who dresses well but still manages to make his country look even more like a bully by attempting to crush everything that stands between him and his dream golf resort.
Trump went on to call Forbes’s property “a disgusting blight on the community and an environmental hazard, with leaking oil containers, rusted shacks and abandoned vehicles dumped everywhere. It is a very poor image and representation for the world to see of Scotland”. Yet again, he has missed the point, as Martin Ford pointed out; "People see this as an issue of principle. Fundamentally, it is obviously wrong to throw a family out of their own home – a major, life-changing event – just because their presence is an inconvenience to a neighbouring landowner wanting to add to his property."
Amen Mr. Ford; I love golf, but I wouldn’t demolish somebody’s house if it got in the way of my drive!
Donald Trump has been accused by many, including Oscar-winning Tilda Swinton, of “bullying” Scottish residents into evicting their houses to make room for his new, $1.63 billion golf resort. Although Trump has had permission to build his state of the art course since 2008, protesters have continued to dog his steps ever since – claiming that it is unfair to move people from their homes and that the resort itself will be environmentally unfriendly. In times when there is huge pressure on every country to pay more attention to the environment, it becomes a very personal issue when an American chooses to build a large golf resort in the United Kingdom.
In response to the protests, Trump called Swinton “part of a tiny little group of people who are hanging by a thread”, adding that “I have all of my permits and approvals and we're going to start construction in three weeks" Not for the first time in his life, Trump has clearly missed the point; attacking people rather than principles and drawing attention only to what he has achieved, not what he has ruined in the process – a politician through and through.
Trump also boldly claims “93% of the public in Scotland are in favour of the project” – a statistic that it is likely he either completely made up, or comes from a very select opinion poll. As for his bullying tactics, since when have American politicians ever tried to bully Britain? Oh. Yes, of course.
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