Donald Trump tees off at his new Scottish golf course

Telegraph

6 days ago

Donald Trump celebrated the opening of his new golf course in Scotland with a star-studded guest list that included former Premier League footballers and a Ryder Cup captain.
The US president cut the ribbon on the new course at his Menie resort in Aberdeenshire on the final day of his visit to Scotland.
Mr Trump then teed off at the first hole and played a quick round, before returning to Washington to 'put out fires all over the world'.
He was accompanied in a four-ball round by son Eric, who oversaw the construction of the new course, Paul McGinley, the former Europe Ryder Cup captain, and Rich Beem, a previous PGA Championship winner.
Among the other celebrities who attended the opening and played a round were Gianfranco Zola, the former Chelsea footballer, and Robbie Fowler, the ex-Liverpool striker.
Andriy Shevchenko, the former Ukrainian striker, and Jim Leighton, the ex-Manchester United and Scotland goalkeeper were also present.
Political figures attending included John Swinney, the Scottish First Minister, and Anas Sarwar. The Scottish Labour leader, an avid football fan, appeared starstruck talking to Zola.
Zola and Shevchenko played their four-ball match alongside Warren Stephens, the US Ambassador to the UK, and Stephen Gallacher, the professional golfer.
Mr Trump led a pipe band to the first tee, where a grandstand had been erected for dignitaries to observe the opening ceremony, and was an ebullient mood, even praising the assembled media.
'The media has been terrific, believe it or not. I didn't use the word fake news one time, not one time. Today they're not fake news, they're wonderful news,' the president said.
He also paid tribute to his granddaughter Chloe's golf skills and she and her brother Tristan appeared to be delighted to be travelling in a golf cart driven by their father, the President's son, Donald Jr.
The president built the first course on the site after Alex Salmond's SNP government controversially allowed him to build the development on an unspoiled stretch of sand dunes.
The planning application was called in and approved by John Swinney, who was then the Scottish Finance Secretary and is now First Minister.
He also attended the opening, after holding a private 15-minute meeting with Mr Trump. The US president asked him to stand up and described him as a 'special guy.'
The course opened in 2012 and two years ago, the president and Eric Trump announced plans for a second course. With a typically Trumpian aversion to understatement, they said the two courses together formed 'The Greatest 36 Holes in Golf.'
The US president's speech at the ceremony veered between lauding the new course and addressing world events
He said: 'We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful. The area has really welcomed us. If you remember at the beginning there wasn't quite a welcome, but it wasn't bad.
'But with time they liked us more and more, now they love us and we love them.'
Mr Trump added: 'I look forward to playing it today. We'll play it very quickly and then I go back to DC and we put out fires all over the world.
'We did one yesterday – you know we stopped the war. We've stopped about five wars. That's much more important than playing golf. As much as I like it, it's much more important.'
Thanking his son Eric, who is executive vice president of the Trump Organization and oversees both his Menie and Turnberry golf resorts in Scotland, the president said: 'This has been an unbelievable development.
'The land, they said it couldn't get zoned, it was an impossibility. And Sean Connery said 'let the bloody bloke build his golf course'. Once he said that everything came into line. John (Swinney) and I were talking about that last night.'
After Mr Trump hit an arrow-straight drive down the fairway, he received a round of applause and his son Eric quipped: 'He likes the course.'
However, there was no total escape from the day job and a reporter shouted from the grandstand, asking what he planned to say next to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister.
'We're working together to try and get things straightened out,' Mr Trump said, before clambering into one of a wagon train of golf carts transporting the players.