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Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's golf trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
BALMEDIE, Scotland − Long before talk of hush-money payments, election subversion or mishandling classified documents, before his executive orders were the subject of U.S. Supreme Court challenges, before he was the 45th and then the 47th president: on a wild and windswept stretch of beach in northeast Scotland, Donald Trump the businessman was accused of being a bad neighbor. "This place will never, ever belong to Trump," Michael Forbes, 73, a retired quarry worker and salmon fisherman, said this week as he took a break from fixing a roof on his farm near Aberdeen. The land he owns is surrounded, though disguised in places by trees and hedges, by a golf resort owned by Trump's family business in Scotland, Trump International Scotland. For nearly 20 years, Forbes and several other families who live in Balmedie have resisted what they describe as bullying efforts by Trump to buy their land. (He has denied the allegations.) They and others also say he's failed to deliver on his promises to bring thousands of jobs to the area. Those old wounds are being reopened as Trump returns to Scotland for a four-day visit beginning July 25. It's the country where his mother was born. He appears to have great affection for it. Trump is visiting his golf resorts at Turnberry, on the west coast about 50 miles from Glasgow, and at Balmedie, where Forbes' 23 acres of jumbled, tractor-strewn land, which he shares with roaming chickens and three Highland cows, abut Trump's glossy and manicured golf resort. On July 28, Trump will briefly meet in Balmedie with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "refine" a recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Golf, a little diplomacy: Trump heads to Scotland In Scotland, where estimates from the National Library of Scotland suggest that as many as 34 out of the 45 American presidents have Scottish ancestry, opinions hew toward the he's-ill-suited-for-the-job, according to surveys. "Trump? He just doesn't know how to treat people," said Forbes, who refuses to sell. What Trump's teed up in Scotland Part of the Balmedie community's grievances relate to Trump's failure to deliver on his promises. According to planning documents, public accounts and his own statements, Trump promised, beginning in 2006, to inject $1.5 billion into his golf project six miles north of Aberdeen. He has spent about $120 million. Approval for the development, he vowed, came with more than 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction gigs attached. Instead, there were 84, meaning fewer than the 100 jobs that already existed when the land he bought was a shooting range. Instead of a 450-room luxury hotel and hundreds of homes that Trump pledged to build for the broader community, there is a 19-room boutique hotel and a small clubhouse with a restaurant and shop that sells Trump-branded whisky, leather hip flasks and golf paraphernalia. Financial filings show that his course on the Menie Estate in Balmedie lost $1.9 million in 2023 − its 11th consecutive financial loss since he acquired the 1,400-acre grounds in 2006. Residents who live and work near the course say that most days, even in the height of summer, the fairway appears to be less than half full. Representatives for Trump International say the plan all along has been to gradually phase in the development at Balmedie and that it is not realistic or fair to expect everything to be built overnight. There's also support for Trump from some residents who live nearby, and in the wider Aberdeen business community. One Balmedie resident who lives in the shadow of Trump's course said that before Trump the area was nothing but featureless sand dunes and that his development, carved between those dunes, made the entire landscape look more attractive. Fergus Mutch, a policy advisor for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's golf resort has become a "key bit of the tourism offer" that attracts "significant spenders" to a region gripped by economic turmoil, steep job cuts and a prolonged downturn in its North Sea oil and gas industry. Trump in Scotland: Liked or loathed? Still, recent surveys show that 70% of Scots hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Despite his familial ties and deepening investments in Scotland, Trump is more unpopular among Scots than with the British public overall, according to an Ipsos survey from March. It shows 57% of people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't view Trump positively. King Charles invites Trump: American president snags another UK state visit While in Balmedie this time, Trump will open a new 18-hole golf course on his property dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was a native of Lewis, in Scotland's Western Isles. He is likely to be met with a wave of protests around the resort, as well as the one in Turnberry. The Stop Trump Coalition, a group of campaigners who oppose most of Trump's domestic and foreign policies and the way he conducts his private and business affairs, is organizing a protest in Aberdeen and outside the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh. During Trump's initial visit to Scotland as president, in his first term, thousands of protesters sought to disrupt his visit, lining key routes and booing him. One protester even flew a powered paraglider into the restricted airspace over his Turnberry resort that bore a banner that read, "Trump: well below par #resist." 'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly Trump's course in Turnberry has triggered less uproar than his Balmedie one because locals say that he's invested millions of dollars to restore the glamour of its 101-year-old hotel and three golf courses after he bought the site in 2014. Trump versus the families Three families still live directly on or adjacent to Trump's Balmedie golf resort. They say that long before the world had any clue about what type of president a billionaire New York real estate mogul and reality-TV star would become, they had a pretty good idea. Forbes is one of them. He said that shortly after Trump first tried to persuade him and his late wife to sell him their farm, workers he hired deliberately sabotaged an underground water pipe that left the Forbes – and his mother, then in her 90s, lived in her own nearby house – without clean drinking water for five years. Trump International declined to provide a fresh comment on those allegations, but a spokesperson previously told USA TODAY it "vigorously refutes" them. It said that when workers unintentionally disrupted a pipe that ran into an "antiquated" makeshift "well" jointly owned by the Forbeses on Trump's land, it was repaired immediately. Trump has previously called Forbes a "disgrace" who "lives like a pig." 'I don't have a big enough flagpole' David Milne, 61, another of Trump's seething Balmedie neighbors, lives in a converted coast guard station with views overlooking Trump's course and of the dunes and the North Sea beyond. In 2009, Trump offered him and his wife about $260,000 for his house and its one-fifth acre of land, Milne said. Trump was caught on camera saying he wanted to remove it because it was "ugly." Trump, he said, "threw in some jewelry," a golf club membership (Milne doesn't play), use of a spa (not yet built) and the right to buy, at cost, a house in a related development (not yet constructed). Milne valued the offer at about half the market rate. When Milne refused that offer, he said that landscapers working for Trump partially blocked the views from his house by planting a row of trees and sent Milne a $3,500 bill for a fence they'd built around his garden. Milne refused to pay. Over the years, Milne has pushed back. He flew a Mexican flag at his house for most of 2016, after Trump vowed to build a wall on the southern American border and make Mexico pay for it. Milne, a health and safety consultant in the energy industry, has hosted scores of journalists and TV crews at his home, where he has patiently explained the pros and cons − mostly cons, in his view, notwithstanding his own personal stake in the matter − of Trump's development for the local area. Milne said that because of his public feud with Trump, he's a little worried a freelance MAGA supporter could target him or his home. He has asked police to provide protection for him and his wife at his home while Trump is in the area. He also said he won't be flying any flags this time, apart from the Saltire, Scotland's national flag. "I don't have a big enough flagpole. I would need one from Mexico, Canada, Palestine. I would need Greenland, Denmark − you name it," he said, running through some of the places toward which Trump has adopted what critics view as aggressive and adversarial policies. Dunes of great natural importance Martin Ford was the local Aberdeen government official who originally oversaw Trump's planning application to build the Balmedie resort in 2006. He was part of a planning committee that rejected it over environmental concerns because the course would be built between sand dunes that were designated what the UK calls a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the way they shift over time. The Scottish government swiftly overturned that ruling on the grounds that Trump's investment in the area would bring a much-needed economic boost. Neil Hobday, who was the project director for Trump's course in Balmedie, last year told the BBC he was "hoodwinked" by Trump over his claim that he would spend more than a billion dollars on it. Hobday said he felt "ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it." The dunes lost their special status in 2020, according to Nature Scot, the agency that oversees such designations. It concluded that their special features had been "partially destroyed" by Trump's resort. Trump International disputes that finding, saying the issue became "highly politicized." For years, Trump also fought to block the installation of a wind farm off his resort's coast. He lost that fight. The first one was built in 2018. There are now 11 turbines. Ford has since retired but stands by his belief that allowing approval for the Trump resort was a mistake. "I feel cheated out of a very important natural habitat, which we said we would protect and we haven't," he said. "Trump came here and made a lot of promises that haven't materialized. In return, he was allowed to effectively destroy a nature site of great conservation value. It's not the proper behavior of a decent person." Forbes, the former quarry worker and fisherman, said he viewed Trump in similar terms. He said that Trump "will never ever get his hands on his farm." He said that wasn't just idle talk. He said he's put his land in a trust that specified that when he dies, it can't be sold for at least 125 years. Kim Hjelmgaard is an international correspondent for USA TODAY. Follow him on Bluesky, Instagram and LinkedIn. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
I will be smash hit with the Hammers: NI ace Forbes
Teenage star hungry for Premier League bow after making West Ham debut Northern Ireland Under-19 captain Michael Forbes says he's confident he can thrive on the Premier League stage with West Ham. The 18-year-old made his first team debut as a substitute in a friendly against Cambridge last week and a first appearance in England's top flight is edging closer for the talented centre-back.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Northampton sign West Ham defender Forbes on loan
Northampton Town have signed West Ham central defender Michael Forbes on a season-long loan 21-year-old can also operate as a left-back and has one cap for Northern was part of a Hammers' under-21s side who drew 0-0 with the Cobblers in a friendly on move reunites Forbes with Northampton manager Kevin Nolan after the pair worked together at West Ham."He was a youth team player when I was there. I know what he is capable of and the levels he is capable of reaching," Nolan, who spent four years playing for the east London club and another four on the coaching staff, said., external Forbes joined League Two side Bristol Rovers on season-long loan at the start of the 2024-25 season but was recalled by the Hammers after sustaining a hamstring then joined Colchester United on a loan deal but had a reoccurence of that injury, so again returned to his parent club."He had some really bad luck last season but he is back now and we feel we can provide the platform for Michael to develop and kick on," Nolan said."We believe we can help him reach the levels we know he is capable of and that includes playing international football again."Northampton begin their League One campaign on Saturday, 2 August with a trip to Wigan Athletic (15:00 BST).
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
A New Golf Course and Old Grudges Await Trump in Scotland
Michael Forbes has been at odds with President Trump since the day Mr. Trump turned up with a plan to build a golf resort next to his farm on Scotland's northeast coast. That was nearly 20 years ago, and Mr. Forbes, a retired quarry worker and salmon fisherman, hasn't lost any of his vinegar. 'There's no way I'm ever going to sell,' Mr. Forbes, 73, said this week of his property, which is surrounded by a new golf course that Mr. Trump is expected to dedicate when he visits his two resorts in Scotland this week. 'I keep three Highland cows behind the house,' Mr. Forbes said, chuckling that the bucolic spectacle annoys his neighbor, clashing with his manicured landscape. Such cussedness comes naturally on this wild stretch of the Scottish coast, where the North Sea winds can snap a full-grown spruce tree in two. But it captures a wider refusal among many Scots to make peace with Mr. Trump, even after he regained the White House and deepened his investment in Scotland — a token of his ties to the land where his mother was born. 'Everyone in Scotland hates him,' Mr. Forbes said, a claim that was thrown in doubt a few minutes later by John Duncan, a nearby contractor who clears ditches for Mr. Trump. 'I love the man,' Mr. Duncan said, noting that the president's resort, Trump International Scotland, employs 35 greenskeepers alone. 50 miles North Sea Trump International Scotland Balmedie Aberdeenshire SCOTLAND Atlantic Ocean Glasgow Trump Turnberry northern ireland ENGLAND By The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
RNZ News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Press secretary sex scandal: Investigation to conclude in August
Michael Forbes had audio recordings of multiple sessions with sex workers, as well as zoomed-in photos of women in public and footage of women getting changed for a night out. Photo: LinkedIn/Michael Forbes The government says it will "consider what information can be made public" about the sex scandal surrounding the prime minister's former deputy chief press secretary, after the investigation ends in August. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has ordered Ministerial Services - run by the Department of Internal Affairs - to carry out a "deep dive" investigation after it was revealed Michael Forbes had audio recordings of multiple sessions with sex workers, as well as zoomed-in photos of women in public and footage of women getting changed for a night out, filmed through a window. Forbes resigned as Luxon's deputy chief press secretary this month after the Stuff investigation looking into the matter contacted him for comment. The recordings, photos and footage was discovered by a Wellington sex worker in July last year. In a statement, the Department of Internal Affairs said its investigation would look into "employment and device policies, procedures and information sharing practices". "The deep dive is expected to conclude in August 2025, at which point DIA will determine what information can be shared and when. "We will not be commenting further as the deep dive is in progress." The statement follows a report by the NZ Herald quoting DIA chief executive Paul James, who said he did not have terms of reference "per se", but that he expected to release the investigation's findings publicly in August. James told the Herald officials were checking the range of security clearances Parliamentary staff had, and with police and the Security Intelligence Service would assess information sharing practices - likely in July. James also told the paper he did not expect the inquiry would prompt wide-ranging changes but he wanted to remain open minded, including around whether employees were expected to raise concerns about a change in their circumstances, or whether departments should check in about that regularly. In statements after the scandal was revealed, Forbes said he had sought therapy over the past year, and should have apologised to the women affected at the time. Police investigated the same month the recordings were discovered and seized two phones in a search warrant, but said the available evidence did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution. After the scandal broke, the DIA said all Ministerial Services staff were subject to standard pre-employment checks including reference checks, serious misconduct checks and a criminal conviction check when first employed - but this was not required when Forbes was temporarily assigned to the PM's office. Luxon himself told reporters it was Forbes' responsibility "to actually declare those issues or those incidents to us - that didn't happen which is why his employment would have been terminated, obviously". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
