‘Loser’ Trump fires back at ‘irrelevant’ Salmond

ONE is the “has-been and totally irrelevant” former leader of Scotland, the other is the “loser” vying to become the leader of the free world.

A war of words escalated between Donald Trump and Alex Salmond. Picture: TSPL

A nasty war of words has broken out between former first minister Alex Salmond and his one-time admirer Donald Trump after the American lost his latest legal bid to prevent an offshore wind farm being built near his Aberdeenshire golf course.

Describing the US billionaire and Republican front-runner for the US presidential nomination as a “three-time loser”, Mr Salmond accused Mr Trump of damaging Scotland’s economy with his “unacceptable behaviour”.

The attack came after the UK Supreme Court rejected Mr Trump’s latest legal challenge to a wind farm near his golf course on the Menie estate.

The decision announced yesterday followed two defeats for the US businessman in the Scottish courts. In a statement after the ruling, Mr Salmond, MP for Gordon, describing Mr Trump as a “three-time loser,” said he had “at best postponed and at worst jeopardised” a £200 million economic boost from the offshore project.

He also attacked Mr Trump for failing to live up to promises on the economic benefits of the Aberdeenshire course and for denying Scotland the chance of hosting the Open Championship at his second Scottish course at Turnberry in Ayrshire following his comments on Mexicans and Muslims during his campaign for the Republican nomination.

The MP said: “As First Minister, I was cited in Trump’s legal action. Now it is concluded, I am free to speak my mind on the damaging impact of his interventions on the Scottish economy.

“He has created a fine golf course but it does not even have a permanent clubhouse at present, far less the claims of thousands of jobs and billions of investment.”

Mr Salmond said Scots-Americans were now likely to join the “ever-growing list of people alienated by Trump”.

In response, a spokesman for the Trump Organisation said: “Does anyone care what this man thinks? He’s a has-been and totally irrelevant. The fact that he doesn’t even know what’s going on in his own constituency says it all. We have a permanent clubhouse and the business is flourishing.

“He should go back to doing what he does best – unveiling pompous portraits of himself that pander to his already overinflated ego.”