Trump's Scottish Links: An exclusive look at the new golf course splitting locals

AFP English

As Donald Trump pursues a second stint in the White House, three thousand miles away in his mother's birth country of Scotland he is building a new golf course that is dividing opinion among his Scottish neighbours. For some, it will be symbolic of the Republican candidate's adoration for his ancestral home and a driver of economic investment. For others, it is set to be a display of ostentation that will bring little benefit to the local community. In a broadcast exclusive, AFPTV takes a look at Donald Trump's second golf course that is nearing completion and set to open in 2025.  N°36LB2GV   PLEASE SEE ALSO: GOLF COURSE IMAGES & SOUNDBITES:  36LA6UQ LOCAL REACTION IMAGES & SOUNDBITES: 36LA3N2 VOICED PKG: 36LB2GB NSV PKG: 36LC2BJ WEB VOICED PKG: 36LC38M

Transcript

00:00Donald Trump is having another swing at running for president.

00:05But it's not just America he's vowing to make great again.

00:09The presidential candidate, who is half Scottish, is also making his mark on Scotland.

00:16This is his soon-to-be-completed second golf course on the northeast coast.

00:21The finishing touches are being made to the new course, part of plans to honour Trump's

00:26mother, Mary McLeod, who was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis.

00:31We are well on the way to completion and we're excited to unveil that in 2025.

00:36This is a spectacular property and it's deeply personal to the Trump family who are intimately

00:41involved and we've been blessed to have it here in the northeast of Scotland.

00:47But not everyone is a fan.

00:50The building of the first golf course meant that the lower part of these sand dunes lost

00:55their status as a site of special scientific interest.

00:59For local lawmaker Maggie Chapman from the Scottish Greens, the development doesn't help

01:03the community nor the environment.

01:07That first golf course literally rode roughshod over quite a lot of the dune system.

01:14There's been nothing positive, no wealth of jobs, no really, really top quality homes

01:21provided and I think the fear is that any further developments in this area will be

01:27just more of the same.

01:29Trump's team claim to be using cutting edge techniques to ensure the course is environmentally

01:34friendly using the natural undulations of the land.

01:38Further down the beach, local opinion is divided.

01:42I have no issues at all about it.

01:44I think if anything it's bringing business into Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, especially just

01:50now when we need all the business we can get.

01:53I mean I'm a golfer myself and I went to see what it would cost to play at Trump's course

01:56and it's just a playground for the rich and certainly doesn't represent what I think Scotland's

02:02all about.

02:03David Milne's home is on the edge of Trump International's Aberdeenshire site.

02:08Over the last 15 years he and his fellow neighbours have been fighting to stop their land being

02:12swallowed up by plans to create a buffer zone around the golf site.

02:17Milne has seen trees planted and fences erected on the perimeter of his property and at one

02:22stage was even threatened with compulsory purchase.

02:27The first turned up in 2006 and I wasn't 100% against it.

02:33It is difficult but at the same time we really didn't have a choice.

02:39This was our home.

02:40This was a house we literally built with our own blood, sweat and tears and I'm not prepared

02:46to give that up.

02:48Especially not for some arrogant halfwit who thinks he can walk in and do what the hell

02:53he likes and everyone will just rush in on bended knee with forelock tugged and say yes

02:59sir, well I'm sorry, I'm not, I'm just not doing it.

03:04Trump's Aberdeenshire development employs a few hundred locals but has not created the

03:09expected thousands of jobs, most of which were supposed to come from a hotel.

03:14That idea has been put to bed but Trump International maintains that building accommodation is still

03:19part of their plan.

03:20The world has changed since our plans were formed a great many years ago and the economy

03:26and the market has evolved and we've identified that the beautiful lodges that we have on

03:33site are very site specific and we intend to develop more of those.

03:39By the time the new course opens to golfers, the owner himself could be teeing off at the

03:45White House.

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