To our embarrassment, we find that it’s perfectly natural that Donald Trump should have a special place in his heart for Scotland.
This weekend, he’ll open his new MacLeod golf course at Balmedie north of Aberdeen in memory of his Scottish mother. But her errant son is not entirely welcome here, hence the 5,000 police officers on duty to hold back the demonstrations against him.
Those who attend the “festivals of protest” organised by the Stop Trump Coalition, and other worried groups, have serious differences with the Mighty Donald. They reject his selfish “America First” philosophy, his anti-science popularism, his tax handouts to the rich, his total support for Netanyahu’s war in Gaza. And there are those that don’t like his “golf resort” attitude to Scotland.
Let’s start with the golf. Back in 2006, Trump bought a beautiful part of the Aberdeenshire coast, saying he wanted to invest £1billion and build the best golf course in the world. He didn’t care that the sand dunes were a site of special scientific interest or that locals were hustled into accepting his plans. He also wanted rid of “ugly windmills” off-shore. The course duly opened in 2012, along with a 5-star hotel, but much of the rest of the resort has not been built and it’s run at a loss ever since. Maybe the grand vision will now materialise with the opening of the second Mary Anne MacLeod course.
Before (or possibly after who knows?) he gets to Aberdeen, the Trump entourage will sweep into his other golf resort, the historic Turnberry links on the Ayrshire coast….three courses and a grand hotel built in 1906. His Trump organisation, now run by his sons Donald and Eric, claims to have invested over $200m in Turnberry but like Balmedie it too is still running at a loss. A strange way to do business you might think.
For a golf-resort entrepreneur, you can see why Trump wants to invest in Scotland. It’s the home of golf, we’ve been playing it since the 15th century. 200,000 Scots (about 5 per cent of the population) still play at 587 courses, more per head than any other country in the world. It is still largely an old man’s and a game for the well-to-do. So Donald at 78 and being extremely rich, fits the membership requirements well. I wonder if he’s any good at the game itself? But that’s probably not the point.
Despite all the differences most of us Scots have with Donald Trump, he has posed us a number of questions we have been avoiding. Why is Europe so dependent on American arms to defend itself ? Why are we allowing the killing in Ukraine and the Middle East to go on in never-ending wars? Is the globalisation of manufacturing a totally good thing?
And what is the answer to Trump’s popularism, the same appeal to people’s frustration which is driving the far right in much of Europe. Here in Scotland Nigel Farage’s Reform Party are currently polling at 20 per cent support. The answer, of course, is better leadership from rational politicians. We need someone with Trump’s charisma to stand up for civilised values: like the rule of law, international co-operation, the welfare state, respect for science.
Will Keir Starmer and the Scottish First Minister John Swinney do that this weekend when they “welcome” Donald Trump in Aberdeen? We need a little more than bended knees and pleadings on whisky tariffs. Will they tell him to put pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into to Gaza? I wonder if they will point out that he’s wrong on climate change and that Aberdeen is proud to be the headquarters of our off-shore wind industry.
Not that Trump will listen. But it would give the rest of the world – and the “other” half of America – hope that liberal values are still alive. If our leaders speak out and large rallies denounce Trump this weekend, it will show that Scotland is not just a golf resort but a decent and progressive country.
