The Wall Trump Put Up In Scotland
BALMEDIE, Scotland — President- elect Donald J. Trump has already built a wall — not on the border with Mexico, but on the border of his exclusive golf course in Scotland, blocking the sea view of residents who refused to sell their homes. And then he sent them the bill.
David and Moira Milne had already been threatened with legal action by Mr. Trump’s lawyers, who claimed a corner of their garage belonged to him, when they came home one day to find his staff building a fence around their garden. Two rows of trees went up next, blocking the view. And then a bill for about $ 3,500 arrived in the mail, which, Mr. Milne said, went straight into the trash. “You watch, Mexico won’t pay either,” said Mr. Milne, a health and safety consultant, referring to Mr. Trump’s promise to build an “impenetrable wall” along the border and force the Mexicans to pay for it.
The Milnes now f ly a Mexican flag from their house whenever Mr. Trump visits. So do Susan and John Munro, who also refused to sell and now face a 4.5-meter-high earthen wall built by Mr. Trump’s people. Michael Forbes, a quarry worker, added a second flag — “Hillary for President” — perhaps because Mr. Trump publicly accused him of living “like a pig” and called him a “disgrace” for not selling his “disgusting” home.
As many Americans are trying to figure out what kind of president they have just elected, the people of Balmedie, a village outside Aberdeen, say they have a pretty good idea. In the 10 years since Mr. Trump first visited, vowing to build “the world’s greatest golf course” on an environmentally protected site featuring 4,000-yearold sand dunes, they have seen him lash out at anyone standing in his way. They say they watched him win support for his golf course with grand promises, then watched him break them one by one.
A promised $1.25 billion investment has shrunk to what his opponents say is at most $50 million. Six thousand jobs have dwindled to 95. Two golf courses to one. An eight-story, 450-room luxury hotel never materialized, nor did 950 time- share apartments. Instead, an existing manor house was converted into a 16-room boutique hotel. Trump International Golf Links, which opened in 2012, lost $1.36 million last year, according to public accounts.
“If America wants to know what is coming, it should study what hap- pened here. It’s predictive,” said Martin Ford, a local representative. “I have just seen him do in America, on a grander scale, precisely what he did here. He suckered the people and he suckered the politicians.”
Alex Salmond, a former first minister of Scotland whose government granted Mr. Trump planning permission in 2008, now concedes the point, saying, “Balmedie got 10 cents on the dollar.”
Sarah Malone, a vice president of Trump International, disputed some of the figures about the project, saying that Mr. Trump invested about $125 million and that the course now employed 150 people.
Mr. Trump, whose mother emigrated from Scotland to New York, never showed much interest in her place of birth. But the same year he applied for planning permission in Balmedie, he visited the Isle of Lewis, where she grew up.
The visit did not impress Mr. Ford, then the chairman of the planning committee at Aberdeenshire Council, which refused Mr. Trump permission for his golf course on environmental grounds. In the end, Mr. Salmond came to Mr. Trump’s defense, granting permission to proceed. “Six thousand jobs across Scotland, 1,400 local and permanent jobs in the northeast of Scotland,” he said at the time. “That outweighs the environmental concerns.”
Now Mr. Salmon said Mr. Trump gamed him. “Most developments balance economic against environmental issues,” he said. “The problem, and it’s a big problem, is that Donald Trump didn’t do what he promised.”
But some local residents remain loyal to Mr. Trump. Stewart Spence, owner of the exclusive Marcliffe hotel, said: “How many tourists have the dunes brought in? Zero. What he has done is build a beautiful golf course and made the northeast of Scotland an amazing destination.”
Until six years ago, the Munros could look out their kitchen window and see the Girdleness lighthouse on the other side of Aberdeen. Now they look out onto the berm built by Mr. Trump’s people.
Ms. Munro said, “I hope America has a better experience than Balmedie.”