http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6929090.eceTrump’s ‘village idiot’ tirade over golf protester
November 24, 2009
Donald Trump, one of the world’s most powerful businessmen, has launched an astonishing personal attack on a homeowner whose seaside cottage stands between him and his dream of creating the world’s greatest golf course.
Michael Forbes, 56, a former salmon fisherman, has refused to sell his property at Balmedie, near Aberdeen, to Mr Trump, whose grandiose vision is being developed over 2,000 acres at a cost of £1 billion. Faced with this intransigence, last night Mr Trump dismissed his adversary as “the local village idiot”, whose “dirty, sloppy and unkempt” demeanour and appearance made him “a terrible representative for Scotland”. The businessman hit out after Mr Forbes’s mother, Molly, 85, became the latest family member to mount a legal challenge to the resort.
She lodged papers at the Court of Session in Edinburgh seeking an interim interdict against six planning applications granted recently to the Trump organisation, arguing that the company had previously said that it would not develop the pockets of land.
Mr Trump’s response was to dismiss her as the dupe of her son, while reserving his wrath for Mr Forbes.
“Over the years, my representatives and I have often seen Mr Forbes and he has always been dirty, sloppy and unkempt in his personal appearance and demeanour,” Mr Trump said.
“While he is a terrible representative for Scotland, whenever the cameras are rolling, he parades in front of the press looking groomed and wearing a kilt — he truly enjoys the attention that he would never have received without Donald Trump. In a recent television interview that was broadcast in the United States, Mr Forbes made Scotland and its people look terrible. He is a loser who is seriously damaging the image of both Aberdeenshire and his great country.
“His property is 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.
“Instead of wasting the court’s resources, he should spend time cleaning up his land so it does not look like a slum — and a low-level slum at that. Perhaps he thinks that by creating an eyesore I will pay more for his land.”
Mrs Forbes lives near the beach at Balmedie in a static caravan called Paradise, parked next to her son’s house. In her legal challenge she will argue that Aberdeenshire Council did not determine the six detailed planning applications correctly The Trump International Golf Links received outline planning approval a year ago, and Mr Trump said that his proposals were already “the most scrutinised submissions in Scottish planning history”. The development of two golf courses, a luxury hotel, and hundreds of executive homes would “bring a great and positive acclaim to Scotland, unlike the image portrayed by Mr Forbes”. He also cited opinion polls showing that 93 per cent of people backed the project.
“We will not be distracted by the rants of the local village idiot and intend to vigorously defend any challenge to our project. As far as Mr. Forbes’s mother is concerned ... we wish her the best but I guarantee that my mother, Mary MacLeod, would have sternly told her son to “clean up this mess!”.
The Forbes family declined to comment last night