Top Scot award a stunt, says Trump

Published on 05/12/2012 01:30

Donald Trump launched a furious tirade against whisky distillery Glenfiddich last night, claiming its Top Scot award was a “publicity stunt”.

The US business magnate took to the microblogging website Twitter after the premiere accolade in the Spirit of Scotland Awards was given to Aberdeenshire crofter Michael Forbes, a move which he stated was an “embarrassment” to Scotland.

The two men have been embroiled in a bitter feud after Mr Forbes refused to sell his 23-acre farm so that it could be incorporated into Mr Trump’s Menie Estate golf resort.

Mr Forbes eventually sold an acre of his land to protesters amid outrage that the natural beauty of the area was about to be annexed, although his home remains under threat by Mr Trump’s plans to build a second golf course in the area,

Claiming that his Menie Estate resort had brought jobs and tourism to Aberdeenshire, Mr Trump last night described Glenfiddich as a “bad liquor company” and Mr Forbes’ family farm as a “pigsty”, adding that the award should have been presented to US Open tennis champion Andy Murray.

Speaking about his Top Scot award after the ceremony in Edinburgh last week, Mr Forbes said: “There’s no way I’ll ever sell up to Trump.

“I have 23 acres of land, which he says he needs for his second golf course, and there are 15 homes which still have the threat of a compulsory purchase order over them.”

Previous winners of Glenfiddich’s Top Scot award have included JK Rowling, Ian Rankin and Sir Chris Hoy.