In full: Donald Trump statement on Glenfiddich Top Scot Award

DONALD Trump today issued the following statement in response to the Glenfiddich Top Scot Award, which was given to Michael Forbes, a landowner who is in dispute with the US property tycoon’s Aberdeenshire golf development:

“Michael Forbes totally lost his battle, in that he tried to stop the Trump Organisation and its many supporters (over 93% of locals according to some polls) from building what is now recognised as one of the greatest golf courses in the world. In fact, Sandy Jones, CEO of the PGA said “This can and will be, in my opinion, the best course in the world”, and George O’Grady, CEO of the European Tour made equally impressive statements.

“To think that a product like Glenfiddich would recognise a man like Michael Forbes, who lives in a property which I have accurately described in the past as a total pigsty; a man who loves the attention he has gotten because of his so-called fight with Donald Trump, would receive an award over someone like Andy Murray, a Scot, Olympic Gold Medal Winner, and the first British man to win a Grand Slam title in 76 years. Glenfiddich should be ashamed of themselves for granting this award to Forbes, just for the sake of publicity.

“Glenfiddich is upset that we created our own single malt whisky using another distillery, which offers far greater products. People at our clubs do not ask for Glenfiddich, and I make a pledge that no Trump property will ever do business with Glenfiddich or William Grant & Sons. I hereby call for a boycott on drinking Glenfiddich products because there is no way a result such as this could have been made by the Scottish people. It is an insult to both Andy Murray and Scotland itself.

“Glenfiddich’s choice of Michael Forbes, as Top Scot, will go down as one of the great jokes ever played on the Scottish people and is a terrible embarrassment to Scotland. If Glenfiddich had integrity, they would investigate who voted, and would find that the votes formed part of an organised campaign with multiple votes made by a small group of detractors who are angry that they not only lost, but lost so badly.

“Michael Forbes is not a fisherman or a farmer (which he says he is), and what people don’t understand is that I made a deal with him but he broke it because he wanted more money. He didn’t care about his land (as you can tell by the way it is maintained), he cared about the money. He has made statements about what I said during one brief encounter (literally a few minutes where very nice pleasantries were exchanged) - - - who would speak like that? I didn’t, and have numerous witnesses who were there with me. He brings great dishonour to Scotland.

“Trump International Golf Links, Scotland was announced yesterday as ‘The Golf Course of the Year’ by a very important international golf magazine, Golf Odyssey. In addition, every golf publication is rating our course as one of the greatest courses ever built. Massive tourism has been brought to Scotland due to the success of Trump International Golf Links. Over 10,000 people played the course in less than four months, and bookings for next season are even better - - - so much so that we are already planning a second course. I truly believe that my mother, Mary MacLeod, a proud Scot who was born and raised in Stornoway, would be very proud of what I have achieved for Scotland.

“In summary, Mr Forbes did not stop this project, but probably all the publicity that he and his small group of followers have garnered has helped our project become even more successful than anticipated. For that, I say, thank you Mr Forbes. But to Glenfiddich, you should be ashamed of yourselves, and you should recognise Andy Murray for the real and amazing triumph in winning the United States Open.”