Trump golf courses in Scotland, double nightmare
David Milne loves the view of the North Sea that he has from his house, but he often looks away and ends up focused on a neighboring golf course.
There he counts the people walking the fairways and reaffirms his conviction that something is wrong.
"The parking lot is always half full," Milne recently commented. "This was supposed to be the best golf course in the world, but I don't think it's a huge success."
A report that Trump's company submitted to the British government confirms this: The Trump International Golf Links has lost millions of dollars, as has another course on the other side of Scotland, on the Irish Sea.
The report, released on Friday, indicates that last year's losses doubled from the previous year and reached $ 23 million. It was the third year in a row that the fields gave losses. Revenues also declined sharply.
Trump's company has suffered several setbacks since venturing into Scotland 12 years ago.
To begin with, he was disliked by Milne and other residents who complained that he tried to force people to sell their land. A local fisherman became famous for refusing to sell, despite a succulent offer of $ 690,000 for his land.
Two documentaries were then circulated about the fights with the residents of the area that made the company look very bad, “Tripping Up Trump” and “You’ve Been Trumped”. The latter was broadcast by the BBC despite the fact that Trump's lawyers threatened to sue her if he did.
And the problems kept adding.
A few months before Trump won the Republican nomination for president of the United States, he lost a legal battle to prevent the construction of electricity-generating windmills in front of the resort on the North Sea. Trump has run into numerous obstacles to his projects there, including the construction of a luxury hotel and a second golf course, mostly over objections from regulators regarding environmental protection, who say his plans threaten the dunes for which that area is famous.
There are also indications that he will not be allowed to organize the Scottish Open, as he wanted.
It is unclear to what extent all of these factors affect the golf courses of him. There are other elements that could affect the meager results.
Trump's company noted that it had to close its Turnberry resort, on the Irish Sea, for half a year while a new golf course was built and the old one touched up. Part of the losses, on the other hand, were attributed to fluctuations in the pound.
Some residents believe that Trump's resorts are doing well, attracting a lot of people. And that the problems that he has had perhaps benefited the community.
For now, Trump has only 16 rooms at his North Sea resort, and hotels in the area host many visitors to the golf course.
"I went from an average of 400 golfers rooms to 1,400 in six months," said Stewart Spence, 70, owner of the Marclife Hotel and Spa in neighboring Aberdeen. "I doubt there is a golfer in the world who does not know about this town because of what Trump did."
Other rival golf courses also benefited.
"We go from 4,000 golfers a year to almost 5,500," said Les Durno, 54, general manager of the Cruden Bay Golf Club, located 20 miles from Trump's course.
Not only golfers go there. Many people are drawn to the prospect of seeing a property of the President of the United States and perhaps buying a $ 26 cap with the family crest on it.
"When we pass by Trump International, often people, especially Americans, ask me to stop to buy something," said a bus driver who was waiting in the parking lot of the golf course, who did not want to give the name of the. "They don't play golf, but they want a souvenir."
Others are not so enthusiastic, including the head of the Scottish government, Chief Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Shortly before Trump's visit to his North Sea resort in June last year, and Milne raised a Mexican flag in protest at the mogul's immigration policies, Sturgeon stripped Trump of his title as Scotland's trade ambassador. . He said he was doing it because of his comments about Muslims during the presidential campaign.
Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University revoked an honorary degree it had given Trump for the same reason.
And Trump's inflammatory remarks as president only added fuel to the fire.
The organization SumOfUs, which monitors corporate activity, called for Trump's projects to be suspended because his rhetoric "encourages white supremacists" around the world.
The petition had gathered 94,888 signatures as of Sunday.
In July the CEO of one of the main sponsors of the Scottish Open, Martin Gilbert of Aberdeen Asset Management, told a newspaper that, “regardless of politics, Trump's field would be an ideal venue (for the tournament), but you cannot put politics aside ”.
Milne, for his part, insists that Trump's election as president hurts his business.
"Some people come to the club because they are the president, but others avoid it for the same reason," he said.
