Donald Trump: I nearly gave in on £750m golf plan

Published on Friday 8 October 2010 18:19

DONALD Trump has admitted he considered abandoning his controversial plans to build the "world's greatest golf course" on an environmentally sensitive stretch of the Aberdeenshire coastline.

• Donald Trump holds up his honorary degree, awarded by chancellor Sir Ian Wood yesterday Picture: Kami Thomson

The billionaire also revealed he almost fired the senior executive appointed to mastermind the massive golf resort development, after learning the 750 million scheme had been thrown out on the casting vote of the chairman of the local planning authority.

His startling admission came during an emotional address to students at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University yesterday, where the American received his first honorary degree - a doctorate in business administration for his "business acumen and entrepreneurial vision."

Mr Trump then spoke at length about the furore surrounding his proposals to turn the dunes at Menie estate into his dream golf development.

He said: "There were times when we probably should have given up - most people would have given up."

He said the turning point came in November 2007 at a crucial meeting of Aberdeenshire Council's planning authority where his application to build his golf resort on the fragile dune system was thrown out on the casting vote of Councillor Martin Ford, chair of the infrastructure services committee.

Mr Trump said: "We had an unexpected turn of events.

"We were going along well, we were getting all the environmental permits, we were getting kudos, a poll said 93 per cent were in favour. So everyone involved - myself, all the people that had been working on it - said, great, this is going really well, we're going to get a positive vote from the council and that will be that."

But his world fell apart in an early morning phone call to Trump Towers in New York from George Sorial, the Trump Organisation's managing director of international development appointed to mastermind the Menie development.

Mr Trump said: "I will never forget, I got call at seven in the morning in New York from the project manager, who's done an amazing job, George Sorial, and he said Mr Trump you're not going to believe it. And he told me we expected to win 9-2 and we ended up losing 8-7. He said we lost. I said 'Lost - how did that happen?' And I got very angry.

"I almost said 'George - you're fired.' And he said 'No we lost, and we don't really understand what happened'.

"And I said 'Well, now we have to think.'"

Mr Trump added: "There were a lot of people - hundreds of people who lived in the area -who wrote to me and said please don't stop, please, please don't give up.

"And I made the decision to continue to go forward.

"And as you know we have now had months of construction and it is really unbelievable and will probably be even better than we anticipated."

Earlier there had been tight security at Robert Gordon University as Mr Trump's convoy of SUVs swept into the Garthdee campus.

But there was not a single protester in sight.

Speaking after he received his award, he said: "I heard there was going to be a big protest today and nobody showed up."

However, by the time he left the campus after a private reception, around 20 protesters had gathered.

Mr Trump turned briefly and smiled and waved at the protesters before he left.