Back on October 19, 2007, when President Trump was just “The Donald” we posted this story about a Scottish salmon fisherman/farmer who declared war on Donald Trump. Michael Forbes, who is a third generation salmon fisherman on the coast of Aberdeenshire, refused to sell his land to The Donald, so he could transform Forbes’ 23 acres of dune-covered land into the centerpiece of his “world’s greatest golf course.”
Forbes’ refusal to sell his land and outright defiance as well as Trump’s subsequent outrage sparked a story that hilariously still rages on nearly a decade later. (Read the origins of the fight in this 2007 Guardian article titled “Just go home: what the Scots fisherman told Donald Trump“).
Here’s our original post from 2007
Over the next few years, the war between Forbes and Trump continued to heat up. In 2011, British filmmaker Anthony Baxter released his film You’ve Been Trumped, which documents the struggles between Donald Trump and the obstinate Scotsmen that opposed Trump’s plan to turn this Scottish wilderness into a luxury golf resort.
Not surprising, when it was announced that the documentary would premiere on BBC Two, the always litigious Trump had his lawyers contact the company to demand that the film not be shown, claiming it was “misleading” and “defamatory.” The BBC did not comply and went ahead and showed the film, which you can watch below. Clocking in at 1:40, it’s not a quick watch but Forbes’ “gift of the gab” makes for some entertaining watching.
In 2012, Forbes was honored for his continued opposition to Trump and was voted “Scotsman of the Year” in the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards. He took his place on the podium surrounded by Scottish Olympians and renowned artists.
LINK (via: BBC America)
In the run up to the 2016 election, Trump was incapable of avoiding the disdain he had inspired in Scotland. Former loyalists who had advocated for his golf course a decade earlier were now warning the American people to avoid falling for Trump’s empty promises. The furor got so loud HBO even created a piece about this controversy for its show Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. In it, Forbes once again shines saying that if Donald Trump were to offer him 5 million dollars for his land he would tell him to “shove it.” (the video embed looks broken but it works)
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that the fervent Scottish opposition to Trump becoming president was not as successful as Michael Forbes’ decade-long war on Trump. But now that Trump is living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, the Scottish have not changed their tune. If anything they’ve got even more incredulous now that their nemesis has assumed the mantle of “most powerful man in the world.” To hear their continued colorful disdain for President Donald J Trump, who they have many descriptive nicknames for, check out this recent clip on Full Frontal featuring “the original Trump haters.” (Hilarious and NSFW)
And as if this story couldn’t get even more bizarre, less than 24 hours ago a Scottish court ruled on a case in which a grandmother sued Trump’s course for breaching her privacy by photographing her urinating on the course. She lost…
LINK (via: US News & World Report)
When we posted this story nearly ten years ago, we never expected this fight would become a decade-long battle. And never in a million years did we expect this story would involve a future U.S. President.
