Donald Trump: Scotland's President

It's a year since he was elected.

Are you used to it yet?

I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.

-So help me God.

-So help me God.

Congratulations, Mr President.

President Trump is half Scottish.

His mother was born here.

But his relationship with Scotland has been full of controversy.

Show me a part of Scottish society that came out the better

for Donald Trump having arrived - I don't think there is one.

More than a decade ago, he came here to build

what he said would be the world's greatest golf course...

Any golfer that comes here is in awe of what we've created

and what nature has let us create.

..but has the Trump resort delivered what was promised?

I think the one thing that should be said about it

is the people putting it forward

did not live up and honour the agreements

they'd made to the Scottish people.

This is the story of Scotland's difficult relationship

with President Trump.

Donald Trump is Scottish enough

to qualify for our national football team,

yet he's drawn far more protest than praise

in the country of his ancestors...

..and maybe that's why getting to speak to him has proved so tricky.

Glenn Campbell from BBC Scotland.

Have you got a moment to have a word?

Absolutely not. What are you doing here?

You're fake news. Get out of here.

Get him out of here. Hey, get him out of here.

I cover Scottish politics, and, over the last decade or so,

that's also meant covering Donald Trump

and his battle to build a golf resort near Aberdeen.

There's nothing like it.

Good. I hope you enjoy it.

I hope everybody enjoys it.

Good to be back in Scotland again?

Great to be back in Scotland.

CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK

Now, nobody knew Trump could do that, right?

That's a pretty good shot.

Go back more than a century

and this is where the story of Donald Trump and Scotland began.

As the President likes to remind us, his mother was a Scot.

My mother was born, as you know, in Stornoway -

and I think I'm doing Scotland a tremendous favour,

and I think my mother would be very, very proud of me.

Mary Anne MacLeod was born on Lewis in 1912

and grew up across the bay

from the island's capital, Stornoway.

Her father had a little post office and shop in town.

They had a croft there.

With a big family,

there was certainly no doubt most of them would have to leave.

Mary Anne Trump, Mary Anne MacLeod, as she was,

is an example of somebody who left these islands

for a new life in the New World, if you like. Why do you think she left?

Why do young people want to leave?

Because they want a job somewhere else.

Because they want something new,

because they want to be away from their parents for a while.

They want to see the world.

Mary Anne came home to the island throughout her life...

..and she maintained a strong connection with her church.

This is where Donald Trump's mum worshipped as a child.

She'd walk four miles

to attend Sunday services in Gaelic here in Stornoway -

and we're told the family had their regular pew

in the upper gallery, but that Mary Anne,

when she returned to the island in later years as Mrs Trump,

would sit towards the back, over here.

In case anyone is in any doubt about Donald Trump's Scottish heritage,

it's all recorded in the church's records.

So, here, in 1913, we've got Mary Anne,

daughter of Malcolm MacLeod and Mary Smith of Tong, born May 1912,

and baptised in this very church in the following year.

The church organist remembers seeing Mrs Trump in the congregation.

I think that the last time I saw her,

I noticed that she was talking in her native Gaelic,

so, she never forgot her roots,

she never forgot what would have been her mother tongue.

That seems incredible, after maybe 60, 70 years.

She obviously was a remarkable person,

and...she loved returning back every year to visit.

Donald Trump was not quite such a regular visitor to Lewis.

In fact, he came once, as a boy, and that was it

until his high-profile homecoming in 2008.

I've been hearing about Stornoway and Lewis for many years

from my mother, and it's very much as I thought.

It's beautiful in every way.

I wanted to see it again, for the second time.

The first time, I was very young -

but I wanted to see it a second time,

and I'm very glad I did, and I'll be back again.

Eyewitnesses said he spent about 90 seconds in his ancestral home...

..but the fact that the Donald came

caused far more fuss than Lewis is used to.

The level of interest was quite noticeable,

because a lot of people gathered to see his plane coming in,

and when he was down at his relatives' house,

there was a level of interest then.

He hadn't visited the island many times,

so I think a lot of people were a bit sceptical about it,

maybe thought it was just drumming up support

for some of the projects he had in mind -

and many felt, I think,

there was a touch of the less than serious about it,

and he was just sort of showing face to further his interest elsewhere.

The Western Isles are unique, set apart by geography,

by the Gaelic language and culture,

and by the relative strength of religion.

The way of life here is a world away from New York,

where Donald Trump was born and brought

up by a mother immersed in island values.

Values like respect for other people, genuine compassion,

concern to help other people practically...

..and a sense of what community life is like on an island.

Values like those, I think,

would have been very much part

of what he would have been brought up with.

Do you think he has rejected those values?

Well, I'm not saying...

I wouldn't say he's rejected them,

but possibly found them more and more difficult to follow through

in his business work, or now, in his political life.

I don't think the island, the folk here,

would ever say it's wrong to be wealthy

or wrong to aspire to wealth,

as long as you don't make that your God.

The Western Isles have riches of their own.

Natural beauty, unspoiled, an incredible sense of peace,

a slower pace...

..and all that Mary Ann MacLeod left behind.

When Donald Trump's mother set out across the Atlantic for America,

she swapped the hills and machair for the skyscrapers of Manhattan,

the peace and tranquillity of island life for the bustle and brashness

of the big city,

and the subsistence way of life the MacLeods had known for generations

for a new pursuit of wealth and power

when she married Fred Trump.

This is where Mary Anne arrived in 1930.

The 18-year-old worked as a maid and sent money home to her family...

..and her fortunes soon improved,

as her son's biographer explained

outside one of the many Trump-branded buildings in New York.

When she met Fred Trump, it was almost a gift from heaven.

In the 1970s, Fred Trump, Donald's father,

had wealth in excess of 200 million.

This made him one of the wealthiest people in America, if not the world.

She was a strange combination of penurious but also flashy and showy.

So she would drive around from building to building

in a Rolls-Royce to collect the coins

put in the automatic washers and dryers at Trump buildings.

How much of an influence was Mary Anne MacLeod,

or Trump, as she became, on her second son?

I think that she taught him the value of getting attention.

You know, his mum was an attention-seeking woman.

If there was a party, she was the centre of attention -

and I think Donald inherited that desire, and also that ability.

Donald Trump is as bold and brash as New York itself,

his aggressive style moulded by the city he calls home.

Photographer Harry Benson moved here from Scotland in the 1960s.

He's taken pictures of every US President since Eisenhower,

and has known Donald Trump for more than 40 years.

Here's Trump with his mother.

That's his brother's wife.

So, this is Trump's first wife, Ivana, is that right?

Ivana, yes. I was in a restaurant

about a month ago with my wife and a friend...

..and she was on the table across from me,

and, as I'm leaving, said, "Harry, come here," gave me a kiss -

and I'm no more than six inches apart, and she says to me,

"Shit happens."

-Ivana?

-Yes.

Now, that's not saying he's doing a good job...

How well did you get to know Donald Trump down the years?

Yeah, fair enough.

You know, he was always quite easy,

and...

He was quite pleasant.

He loved being photographed...

..and...

Then again, you've got friends, you know...

You know they are not fit to be Prime Minister.

Donald Trump falls into that with me.

When Donald Trump started planning

his new golf resort in Aberdeenshire,

Harry offered him some location advice.

It's the coldest place you can ever find.

-Aberdeenshire?

-Yeah.

I said, you know, you should have gone to the west of Scotland.

Donald Trump didn't publicly parade his plans to invest in Scotland

straight away, but in the months

after New York's Tartan Day celebrations in 2005,

the then First Minister caught wind of what was going on.

We heard that...

..he was looking for one of his next investments

to be somewhere in Europe.

When it was suggested that I meet him, on a visit to New York,

the possibility that he could choose Scotland rather than somewhere else

in Europe for his next big investment,

it seemed like an opportunity that was worth at least exploring.

In that meeting, Jack McConnell found out

just how strange doing business with Mr Trump could be.

When we had the media conference in the lobby of Trump Tower,

he hinted there was a microphone,

that he was taping the media exchange...

..and I thought, "Oh, that's interesting."

So, when we went behind the scenes to sit down and have lunch together,

my first question was, "Where's the microphone?"

And the microphone was in his tie, it was in the knot of his tie,

and he explained that this was something he did on a regular basis.

He occasionally used some of the recording as backdrop

for The Apprentice programme.

Were you alarmed by that?

Well, I wasn't alarmed. I was a bit amused.

It seemed a really strange thing to be doing -

but I wasn't having it. So, the ties came off...

..and were deposited outside the room.

A US property tycoon, seeking to spend big money in Scotland.

Well, that's the sort of thing

that gets politicians and government agencies really excited.

Back in 2005, Jack Perry's job

was to make this kind of investment happen.

At that stage, Jack, how seriously did you take it?

At that stage, very serious.

I mean, he was going to do it.

Pretty certain, by that stage,

that he was prepared to make the investment.

He really liked the piece of ground...

..and had, by that stage,

done an awful lot of homework on the project.

And what did he want from you?

Actually, he certainly wasn't looking for a penny

of government money, you know?

He wasn't looking for government subsidy or support in any way.

We offered him courtesy,

as we would to any prospective major investor in Scotland.

Aberdeen was booming when Donald Trump decided to come here,

but, even then, this area was desperate to diversify its economy

beyond oil and gas.

PHONE RINGS

Good evening, Marcliffe Hotel and Spa,

Anna speaking, how may I help you?

Local hotel owner Stewart Spence got behind Trump's resort.

He felt sure it would make the north-east of Scotland

a more attractive place to visit.

I was on the board of Grampian Enterprise at the time,

and I knew that they'd been doing a feasibility study for somebody

but, not even as a board member, did I know who it was.

So when it was finally announced

that it was going to be Donald Trump,

I couldn't believe it. I knew that this was a man

who wouldn't do anything unless it was the best in the world,

and that was always what he was known for.

And, so, Donald Trump came to Scotland to buy the Menie Estate,

just north of Aberdeen -

but why here?

Mr Trump had been shown some photographs

of the extraordinary stretch of land

along the Menie Estate,

and he made a decision to come and see it first-hand,

and he had been looking for a pristine stretch of linksland

to build his vision of the world's greatest golf course -

and he was just blown away.

But there was a problem.

Some of the land he'd bought

was under protection as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The shifting sand dune system at Menie

was one of the finest examples of its kind in the UK.

So, looking north, we can see the Balmedie dunes and sand domes,

and those sand domes are highly mobile.

They move northwards under the prevailing winds here.

In exactly the same way,

to the north we have the Menie sand dune system,

which are a massive sand dome, which also move north,

at substantial speeds.

Up to 11 metres per year across an area of about 15 hectares.

So, this is very much a living landscape?

It is, it is. It's a dynamic...

It's almost like a wilderness landscape

with a minimal amount of human interference.

It's hard to get planning permission

to develop a protected sites like Menie,

but Donald Trump doesn't take no for an answer

and he was sure the economic opportunity he was offering

would be too good for Aberdeenshire to turn down.

We're talking about 7,000 jobs,

we're talking about hundreds of millions of pounds of investment.

The course itself would be extremely expensive to build.

The whole project will be an extremely expensive project.

A billion-dollar project at least.

In this case, 2 billion or £1 billion

to come into Aberdeenshire, to come into Scotland.

The numbers were repeated so often they became firmly established.

It would be a £1 billion development creating thousands of jobs.

This quiet stretch of coastline

would become a world-famous golf resort

with two pristine courses, a big hotel and hundreds of homes.

It was a tempting offer -

but was it more attractive than the natural habitat it would replace?

That was the decision for the small group of councillors

who took the final vote.

The planning committee was not asked to vote

on whether the applicant was a nice man.

We were being asked to take a land use planning decision,

and it was a 7-7 tie -

and I had voted for the motion to refuse,

and I used my casting vote for the same motion the second time,

and that was the council's decision, to refuse planning permission.

He used his casting vote, so, in effect, he voted twice,

to throw the investment opportunity out.

I lived in Aberdeen at the time, and there was a public outcry.

I called them traitors because they couldn't see the bigger picture.

I think it sends out a devastating message

that, you want to do big business,

don't do it in the north-east of Scotland.

Thank you.

I was profoundly dismayed, I must admit.

I found it hard to credit.

You're saying no to Donald Trump?

At this time, remember,

this was before he was involved in politics

and had the kind of toxic brand that he has now.

Within days of Trump's plans being thrown out,

First Minister Alex Salmond stepped in.

As the local MSP,

he met Trump representatives at the Marcliffe Hotel

and put them in direct contact with Scotland's chief planner.

The very next day,

the Scottish Government called in the application,

allowing the council's decision to be reconsidered.

Mr Salmond's critics accused him of misusing his office

and interfering in the planning process,

but a Holyrood inquiry later found he'd not broken the rules.

As one of Trump's neighbours at Menie,

David Milne always objected to having a golf resort

on his doorstep.

How did you feel about that decision by the Scottish Government

to call in this application and breathe new life into it?

Disbelief. I couldn't believe they'd been stupid enough

to fall for the PR story they'd been given.

When we heard the story and we heard that Alex Salmond had been involved

with the Marcliffe meeting, it added a different context to it,

bearing in mind that Alex Salmond is himself an economist.

It made us quite sad and made us wonder what else is going on

behind the scenes.

# Aberdeen... #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

welcome to the first-ever show of Alex Salmond Unleashed on tour.

In his show, Alex Salmond takes on President Trump.

The President of the United States of America!

Well, sort of.

Thank you so much, what a wonderful audience.

Thank you so much.

It's so good to be here, what a wonderful place to be.

So nice to see you again, Alex. I'm sorry for what happened.

But is Alex Salmond sorry he went out of his way to help Donald Trump

secure his development?

I was the constituency Member of Parliament.

I had an obligation as the constituency Member of Parliament

to do what I thought was best for the local area.

So, my intervention as a constituency MP

was to try and take the matter so as it can be re-examined,

as it eventually was, by a public local inquiry,

which then made recommendations to the government,

and I was out of the decision-making loop -

but many, many people in the north-east of Scotland

thought this is just what we need to put tourism and golf

in the north-east of Scotland on the map.

A year later, after a local planning inquiry,

the Scottish Government granted outline planning permission

for the Trump Resort.

Effectively, the Scottish Government,

the Scottish ministers, called it in.

They lodged the appeal for the applicant on his behalf -

and, in the process, of course,

they called into question their impartiality,

because the only reason why you'd want to call it in at that point

was to stop a refusal taking effect. They shouldn't have done it.

With the benefit of hindsight,

I suspect they feel they shouldn't have done it.

I wouldn't have called it in.

I think it should have been a local matter.

-Why wasn't it?

-It would have been a planning minister's decision

rather than the First Minister's decision -

but my strong view, from a government point of view,

would have been that without...

..the local consent, he should find somewhere else.

Well, I think you have to question my predecessor more closely.

Firstly, the overwhelming majority of councillors, I think 90% of them,

were in favour of the development.

They'd got themselves,

as the evidence to the Parliamentary committee makes it clear,

from the chief executive, into a bind.

If we had turned down the investment,

we'd have been left - thinking more of the constituency here -

sending a message to international investors that after courting you,

after making him, as Mr McConnell did, a global Scot,

then the investment wasn't good enough,

and Scotland was the country that turned it down.

So, I think if he kind of re-examines the record, he might...

..amend his view.

I think Alex Salmond is a tremendous representative

for the people of Scotland. I think he's done a fantastic job.

But the relationship between Alex Salmond and Donald Trump

soon soured.

You're going to have riots all over Scotland,

because Alex Salmond is going to destroy

the natural beauty of Scotland.

Mr Trump strongly objected to an offshore wind farm

being built near his proposed resort.

Well, when somebody comes in and invests tens of millions of pounds

in a certain area, and then all of a sudden that investment is...

..hurt, I think other people will watch what's happened to me

in Scotland and they won't be investing in Scotland.

When his case was tested in Parliament,

he came away with a Trump classic.

Where is the clinical evidence,

not an opinion, an empirical assessment,

where is your clinical evidence?

Who's produced it? Will you share it with the committee?

First of all, I am the evidence.

I think I'm more of an expert...

You know what, I think I'm a lot more of an expert

than the people that you'd like me to hire

who are doing it to make a pay cheque -

but I am an expert in tourism.

I am considered a world-class expert in tourism.

So when you say where is the expert and where is the evidence,

I'm the evidence.

Back home in America,

the belligerent billionaire tried hard to block the wind farm.

He fought the Scottish Government, which gave the turbines consent,

through the courts and through the media.

Four years ago, I was invited

inside Donald Trump's New York headquarters

to hear his arguments face-to-face,

and I learned something about him that day.

So, we came out of the lift and we were met by Trump's lawyer,

and then the man himself came in -

and no sooner had he said "Hi" than he turned to the lawyer

to instruct him on the day's legal business.

Now, I've no idea who the Trump Organisation were up against

at that time or what the dispute was about,

but Trump's instructions were really clear - "Shame him," he said.

"Shame him into withdrawing."

I thought that gave a real insight into his character.

He wouldn't compromise, he was absolutely determined to win,

and he didn't care who knew it.

VOICEOVER: In our conversation, I was on the receiving end

of the Trump hard sell.

I spent a tremendous amount of money

building what is now probably the greatest golf course ever built,

and a lot of people are saying that.

We are getting tremendous reviews, it's phenomenal for Scotland.

Tourists are coming from all over the world,

they're coming, and Aberdeen is booming.

We have really done a great thing for Aberdeen.

If you look at the hotels,

if you look at the restaurants, they're full because of my course.

I think we will have the Ryder Cup, I think we'll have the Open,

I think we'll have many, many great tournaments over the years.

I don't know if I'll be around to see them all,

but you'll have many, many great tournaments.

I have built the greatest golf course ever built.

I don't even have a mortgage.

I don't even have financing on it, I did it out of my back pocket.

I don't need financing.

The work to build

what Donald Trump said would be the greatest golf course on Earth

brought him into conflict with residents on the Menie estate

who refused to sell their homes to him.

Some accused the Trump Organization of dirty tricks.

My wife just gave me a phone call, I was in an office one day,

saying they've got a digger out of the front planting trees,

and it was this type of tree here.

Sitka spruce.

This is the second batch. The first ones died after a couple of years,

they dug them out and put these ones in,

and they backed them up with sycamore,

which, as you can see, are also suffering in the wind.

The salt spray just kills these things off here.

You think eventually they will die?

Oh, yeah. They will.

Well, as you can see, a number of them already have -

and, as I say, these are the second batch.

The first ones already did die.

-Do they bother you at all?

-They did when they first went in

because they formed a complete wall.

They came in at this height, they were fully grown,

transplanted from elsewhere on the estate, and it was a complete hedge.

It was a high hedge built on our boundary.

Is there anything you can do about it?

Well, there is high hedge legislation in Scotland

that we could use that might help.

We haven't pursued it

because we didn't want to be the first in the region to use it -

and, now, the first lot died, these are going the same way,

it's probably not worth the effort.

David Milne also complained about an earth mound

that appeared behind his house,

and he refused to pay towards the cost of a fence

the Trumps put up around his property.

There was a lot of bad feeling.

How do you get on with your neighbours on the Menie Estate?

You know, it's a bit of a myth

that we don't get on with our neighbours.

We have a great relationship with the vast majority of our neighbours.

Let me take the example of one of your neighbours, David Milne.

Why did you build an earth mound next to his house?

You know, David...

David has made a lot of statements about the property

and us as a business, and...

..much of it, if not all of it, is fabricated.

-There was an earth mound, though.

-Yes, there was earth there.

-Why did you build that?

-We own the land on the escarpment,

and one of the reasons why we wanted to buy his property

and another neighbouring property

was because we were entering a period of construction.

Now, I don't need to tell you that a 500-acre golf course,

road infrastructure,

laying cables and services is going to be a messy and noisy affair.

Why did you put a fence around his house

and then ask him to pay for half of it?

The fact of the matter is that he had built an extension on his house

many years ago, and it's technically on our land.

Why did you plant trees in front of his house?

Because we have the right to plant trees -

and, you know, it's our land.

Why wouldn't we plant trees?

Is that bullying behaviour?

I don't believe so.

I would argue that some of the things that they have done

have been extremely close to harassment and threatening.

Such as?

You know, we're going over old turf here,

which I don't think is particularly edifying.

The fact of the matter is we've built a leisure facility.

We want to have a relationship with all of our neighbours.

We have a great relationship with the vast majority of our neighbours,

and we would have a great relationship with David and his wife

if he wanted to.

-You know...

-Is that still possible, do you think?

It's entirely up to them. My door is always open.

Those who refused to sell to Trump

spent years resisting the development.

A public campaign successfully fought off

a threat of compulsory purchase.

As a local councillor, Jim Gifford voted for the development.

Ten years on, he leads the council.

I think, with hindsight, they could have done a lot of stuff better,

right from the start. We have any number of examples

of controversial developments that have come through

in Aberdeenshire over the years,

where the developers have gone out of their way

to involve the local community,

tell them what they were doing, get them on board,

and those things tend to sail through without too much difficulty.

I think the Trump Organization could have learnt a lot

from other developers in terms of how to bring development forward.

Three...two...

..one.

Trump International Golf Links Scotland opened five years ago,

and it's still contentious -

not just with some neighbours and environmental campaigners

but also with some of its supporters

because of the mismatch between what was promised

and what has actually been built.

Talk of two golf courses, a 450-bedroom hotel,

and hundreds of homes seems a bit like fake news...

..because, so far, there's one golf course, a small clubhouse,

and this 16-bedroom hotel in what was the old estate home.

A £1 billion development it is not.

How much money have you spent here, and what have you actually built?

So, to date, we've spent 100 million,

and it's 100 million pure investment,

and, as I've said, it was Trump's private wealth.

There's no mortgages, there's no loans,

there's no liens on this property.

Now, this is a multiphase development.

We said that at the outset.

This wasn't going to get built overnight.

It's a long-term investment opportunity for us

and that's how Mr Trump has always approached it.

So, for phase one, that includes the anchor,

the impetus for the whole site,

which is the championship golf course,

which is award-winning -

and defying even our harshest of critics, it really is a masterpiece.

How many people are employed by Trump International?

So, including our caddies, we have 150 people engaged here

at the estate.

Full-time?

A mix of full and part-time.

We are a seasonal property, remember.

We open in April through to the end of October,

and then we have our winter offering -

and, obviously, we have a variety of service providers

that are reliant on us, and a whole supply chain.

So, it's not the billion pounds worth of investment

and the potential for 6,000 jobs that was promised?

But we haven't finished.

You know, the project is a multiphase project -

and, you know, we're not stupid.

The golf course, impressive as it is,

has permanently changed the dune environment at Menie.

So much so, the government agency Scottish National Heritage

has told us it now has the special scientific status of this site

under review.

I'll be absolutely surprised if it's renotified.

It really should be denotified,

because there's no dynamism involved in that site now -

and that was original justification for its notification.

So, from a scientific point of view, this site's been ruined?

It's been ruined from a virgin, undeveloped wilderness site

into something that's relatively manicured.

Was it worth tearing up this Site of Special Scientific Interest

-for what has been delivered?

-For what is only there just now, no,

because the economic benefit hasn't come through.

In the big picture that was put in front of us ten years ago,

it was worth doing.

What duty does the Trump Organization have

to deliver those benefits?

I think they have an obligation to bring forward what they promised.

That's the bottom line of it.

The difficulty we have is we can't force them to do that.

What's already there is not generating a profit.

The latest accounts show Trump's Scottish businesses

lost £19 million to the end of 2016,

with revenues down year-on-year in Aberdeenshire.

This place hasn't made any money yet, has it?

No. It's... And we didn't expect it to.

It's still in the early stages of its life,

and year-on-year we keep spending money, you know,

adding new services,

adding new facilities...

Investing in our resources, investing in our people -

and that is set to continue for some time.

But does that not matter?

When you're a billionaire, you know...

There are some projects...

..that a quick return on is the motivating factor

but this was not...

..that kind of project.

Trump wasn't coming to Balmedie in Aberdeenshire in Scotland

to make a fast buck. Come on!

Some people have said it's a vanity project.

Who's some people? What does that even mean?

Is it a vanity project?

I think it's a glorious project,

it's one that he's immensely proud of,

and why wouldn't he be? He's set the bar incredibly high.

There may be more construction on the way.

A planning application for a second golf course is in

and has already prompted environmental objections.

Undeterred, Sarah Malone and her architect

have plans for a major new phase of development on the Menie Estate.

Right, so, here's the plan.

Where are we on this at the moment in MacLeod House?

We're overlooking the ponds that you can see out of the gardens -

and then, beyond that, nestled within the trees,

you have the housing starting,

and then beyond that, that is called Chapter One.

They are looking to build a village with 550 homes,

a mixture of residential and holiday accommodation -

but there is something they were supposed to build first

that's missing.

The idea of the grand hotel, is that gone now?

Well, I think for now...

It doesn't make a great deal of sense.

I think you just need to look at...

-The world's changed.

-The world's changed,

the hotel industry in the north-east of Scotland

has changed dramatically.

Not only has the big hotel gone,

but the Trump Organization wants to build residential and holiday homes

at the same time, rather than in the phases specified

in the original planning consent.

Well, I think the Trump Organization,

whoever's putting forward the proposals,

will have a huge credibility problem

in persuading this generation of planners and councillors

in Aberdeenshire to believe the commitments they are now making,

given the track record of the last ten years -

and they face the most enormous credibility problem -

not one, incidentally, they would have faced

if they'd just put their hands up

and said, "Look, the world economic environment

"has fundamentally changed from when we made these promises

"to the position it was maybe two or three, four years ago."

That, I think, would have been understood.

People could have understood that.

In America, not everyone understands how the President, a world leader,

can continue to own a global business.

The White House insists Donald Trump

no longer runs the company he created

and is not involved in deciding what to build in Aberdeenshire.

Not only are these plans controversial in Scotland,

they're controversial here in Washington, too,

because Donald Trump's critics -

lawyers, journalists and political opponents -

say that it's a conflict of interest

for the President of the United States

to have business interests all over the world.

Jeremy Venook is a journalist

who's been researching Donald Trump's overseas business interests

for the past year, including his Aberdeenshire golf resort.

Before he entered office,

the Trump Organization and Trump himself laid out a plan

by which they said they would

avoid creating any more conflicts of interest

in which they promised that the Trump Organization

would not be pursuing any new deals

and would cancel all of its pending deals in other countries.

Now, the expansion at Aberdeen seems to go against that pledge

and creates increased possibilities

that President Trump and his organisation

could come into conflict with government entities in Scotland

and in other countries where the Trump Organization

is pursuing expansion plans.

And some in Washington

are also looking into Trump's other Scottish investment.

Trump's golf course at Turnberry has also featured

in worries about his conflict of interest

because of a £110,000 tax break that he received

from the South Ayrshire Council.

That demonstrates one of the other issues

with President Trump's decision

to hold on to his businesses while he is President,

which is that they offer all sorts of opportunities

for people who may want to curry favour with the President

by using his finances to get to him.

This being America, a legal challenge is already underway.

The ethical standards campaign CREW

argues that the President's international investments

are unconstitutional.

There are actually two clauses

of the United States Constitution called the emoluments clauses.

One of them, the foreign emoluments clause,

says essentially that the President or any other government official

cannot be getting payments or things of value

from foreign governments.

President Trump would say he's handed control of the business

over to his sons.

Why don't you accept that?

Who is managing the business on a day-to-day basis

isn't really what matters.

What matters is who benefits from the business,

who owns the business -

and that continues to be Donald Trump.

He didn't sell the companies, he didn't give the companies away.

He continues to profit from them.

The President has taken steps to avoid conflicts of interest.

These papers are just some of the many documents that I've signed

turning over complete and total control to my sons.

I hope at the end of eight years

I'll come back and I'll say "Oh, you did a good job."

Otherwise, if they do a bad job, I'll say, "You're fired!"

Goodbye, everybody.

Supporters of the President

insist attacks on these arrangements are not justified.

This is a man who has handed over the control of all his businesses

very publicly in a press conference

before he came into the White House.

So, he's not involved in the running of his businesses.

They may bear his name, but you can't take his name off his legacy.

He's built it for 50 years.

Even if they change the name of his hotels or his golf courses,

everybody knows who built them.

The takeover of Turnberry

strengthened the Trump family's ties with Scotland.

In all the jobs we've done around the world,

never have we met such unbelievable partners

who have welcomed us with open arms. Everything that we wanted to do,

every capital investment we wanted to make, they were 100% behind us.

As the Trumps redeveloped Turnberry,

they worked closely with South Ayrshire Council

and other local partners.

They wanted not to improve just infrastructure

and quality of the buildings

but also to engage very closely with the local community.

Therefore, a lot of local contractors were used

as part of that refurbishment.

What economic impact has it had locally?

I think really the employment has the biggest impact.

It's down in a fairly rural area.

There are not many big employers in Girvan, Maybole, etc -

and to have the opportunity to employ, I think, currently,

they've got 454 staff, 85% of which are Scottish and local,

which is really key, I think,

for young people in that particular area.

When he opened the newly-refurbished resort,

the then presidential candidate once again stressed the importance

of his Scottish roots.

My mother was born in Scotland, in Stornoway.

She would come to Turnberry with her friends -

and they'd have dinner at Turnberry.

She didn't play golf but they'd have dinner at Turnberry.

So, having taken this hotel and done the job we've done with it

is just an honour -

and to think that we'd be here owning Turnberry one day

would be incredible.

It was the day after the Brexit vote

and he also welcomed the UK's decision

to leave the European Union.

People want to see borders.

They don't necessarily want people pouring into their country

that they don't know who they are and where they come from,

they have no idea. And I think, you know,

not only did it win, but it won by a much bigger margin

than people thought it would happen.

With Donald Trump, the personal, political and commercial

are intertwined.

Welcome to the Donald Trump Ballroom, our masterpiece.

It's not yet clear what his election will mean

for Scotland and the wider UK.

He's long been the subject of much criticism here.

What would you do if Donald Trump gets into power?

Will you deal with him or dinghy him?

Deal with him or dinghy him? Deal with him or dinghy him?

I think America will dinghy him before I do.

-I'd like to dinghy him before he got into power.

-Would you?

Yeah. Actually, I don't believe he will ever be

President of the United States.

I have too much faith in the wisdom of crowds.

I don't think the Americans will ever elect him President.

But would you have to deal with him, though?

What do you think of his hair? Do you like his hair?

I think it reminds me of Dougie Donnelly.

The First Minister went further in a TV debate.

Donald Trump calls you.

What's your opening gambit?

I actually do think the good people of America

will send Donald Trump packing

and we should all rejoice when that happens.

And what would you say? What would your message be?

"I'm on the other line, sorry."

In fact, Nicola Sturgeon did take the new President's call

and congratulated him.

Earlier this year, she visited the USA during Scotland Week...

..but there was no meeting with President Trump.

Obviously, you've been a critic

of the current President of the United States,

with accusations levelled at him of misogyny and of racism,

you've stripped him of his role as an ambassador for Scottish business.

Have you had to bite your tongue this week?

No, I haven't had to bite my tongue.

I respect the fact that,

notwithstanding political disagreements I will have

with President Trump,

that he is the elected President of the United States.

I also am absolutely determined

that whoever is the President of the United States,

whoever is First Minister of Scotland

from time to time that we concentrate on building

and strengthening and deepening the many links

between Scotland and the United States,

and that is what the visit has been entirely focused on.

But what do the President's supporters make

of the way Scotland's politicians behaved?

It's not what you do.

It's the same way that - why did President Obama

try to force the hand of the British people voting

with regards to exiting the EU?

To threaten that they would be at the end of the queue

when it came to trade relations?

Americans shouldn't do that,

other politicians shouldn't do that with us.

Are there consequences for taking a stand

against the highest political office on the planet?

You'd have to ask the President, but he has a very, very long memory.

-Meaning?

-He doesn't forget stuff.

Another Trump supporter, Jeffrey Lord,

worked in the Reagan White House.

When you work in the White House, the President's photographer,

every President's photographer,

their job is to record history all day long -

and then if you're on the White House staff

and you see one that you like,

you lift it off,

and you sign your name on the back.

There we are, Jeff Lord, political affairs.

Exactly. It's up to the President's photographer who gets it,

and I was fortunate enough to get this one.

Now a writer and commentator, he specialises in political relations.

Do you think our politicians in Scotland made a mistake

criticising Donald Trump?

I always think that kind of thing in general is a mistake.

That said, I understand the politics of it,

that they are playing to their own version of their base

and attacking Donald Trump, in this case, is popular in some circles.

So they do it - but I think it's not a helpful thing.

Will that backfire in some way?

It could. It could.

Again, America being...

American history being what it is and having separated itself

from the UK in the American Revolution,

there's always that strain in America,

that's just sort of under the surface, that we're Americans,

we're not the old world, and we're going to do things our own way.

In the land of the free,

there's a great tradition of poking fun at the rich and powerful.

Capitol Steps have been performing political satire in Washington DC

for decades.

# He's got something that's right when we turn out the lights

# That's when Donald shows me his charms

# And then my heart sings at those small things...

# At the end of his arms

# I want a man with a small hand

# Don't want somebody else to be my spouse

# Don't like those guys who's always showing some hands

# Like those big hands you see on Mickey Mouse... #

The cast includes some who've worked on Capitol Hill

in the business of government.

# A man who wasn't dealt a full hand. #

Now, as Donald Trump's not agreed to be interviewed for this film,

in the spirit of the show, I decided to improvise.

We're making a film about President Trump.

What about the state visit, are you going to make that to the UK?

Make it to the UK?

I don't know. You know, talk to my people, OK?

I don't know, it's just hard to say.

I mean, I'm going to make it great. If I make it there,

it'll be great, it'll be fantastic, it'll be the best visit ever.

Ever. Biggest visit you could imagine.

What if there are protests, though? Some people don't like you.

That's impossible, that's fake news.

No-one ever said that. Everyone loves me.

They love me, you understand?

Look at the crowd here. There's a million people here right now.

There's nobody here.

-Please be seated.

-There's absolutely nobody here.

Be seated, quiet down, you're fake news, get out of here.

Get him out of here.

The real Donald Trump is a hugely controversial President.

There are regularly protests like this outside his family businesses.

Donald Trump may have divided opinion in Scotland

for and against his golf development in Aberdeenshire,

but that's nothing compared to this,

the way in which his policies as President

have divided opinion in the United States.

Yes, he promised to build a wall with Mexico

and to restrict immigration

from a range of mainly Muslim countries.

That helped to get him elected -

but there are no shortage of people prepared to stand up

and fight him on those policies.

President Trump is likely to receive a similar reception in the UK.

That may be why there is not yet a date for the state visit

he was offered and accepted within days of taking office.

The problem for UK and Scottish politicians to resolve

is how best to handle such an unpredictable President.

Well, I think in these international relationships...

..it is perfectly possible to take a very strong stance

and have a strong opinion on what somebody is saying or doing

and still be able to have a dialogue with them.

I met President Putin twice when I was First Minister.

I didn't... No, we didn't agree on most of the topics

that we discussed,

but we had a great, very good relationship, you know?

And good quality discussion.

You should try and tell the truth to power.

I mean, I obviously respect the fact that Nicola Sturgeon, for example,

is in office and you cannot, for example - some people suggested,

say you will refuse to be the President of the United States.

You can't do that. You've got to respect office,

regardless of what you think of individuals.

The election of Donald Trump may have put a bit of a dampener

on the political relationship between Scotland and America,

but in a country that so many Scottish migrants helped to shape,

there are more enduring bonds - shared history, family, culture.

BAGPIPES PLAY

In rural Virginia, in Scottish weather, a taste of the old country.

That's really good.

American Scots from all over the States come to games like this

to celebrate their heritage and eat haggis.

-There you go.

-Lovely, thanks very much.

-You're welcome.

-Is this a popular dish on your menu?

One of the first things we run out of.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-So can I try it with some whisky sauce, then?

Absolutely.

-I'm not quite so sure with the whisky sauce.

-Oh.

Having a half-Scottish President

should be good for strengthening links

between Scotland and America.

If it was anyone other than Donald Trump,

we'd be claiming him as one of our own.

Is it just possible we're missing a trick?

Did you know that your President, President Trump, is half-Scottish?

I was aware of that. I try and deny that as much as I can.

-Oh, do you?

-I'm not a big fan of him.

Did you know that your President is half-Scottish?

-I did not.

-His mum was from the Isle of Lewis.

-I got to tell you, I'm on a Trump-free weekend.

-Oh!

So, if you're a MacLeod, might you be related to President Trump?

Eurgh, hopefully not!

You know his mum was a MacLeod from the Isle of Lewis?

Really? As I said, a distant cousin.

There is an invitation for President Trump to come to the UK

on a state visit, which is quite controversial.

-What do you think we should do?

-Oh, I think he should go.

I think he should go.

Any opportunity to strengthen bonds should be welcomed.

His mum was from the Isle of Lewis.

-OK.

-Who knew?

-She was a MacLeod from the Isle of Lewis.

Oh. I didn't know that.

-Good to know.

-I would say, if more people knew

and he was able to portray that positively...

-..that that would be...

-You are so politically correct!

Thank you!

Did you know that President Trump is half-Scottish?

Are you serious?!

Yeah, his mum was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis.

I love Donald Trump, so that just makes everything so much better.

Maybe he should make more of it.

Oh, you're saying that President Trump

should kind of admit that he is a little bit Scottish

and start to connect to his heritage?

I don't know, do you think that's a good idea?

I think so, yeah, even if the Scots deny it, which I assume they will.

I think...

Well, he's not universally popular in Scotland, that's true.

Mm-hm. I hear he's more German than anything else, so...

So, do you get on well with the Saint Andrew's Society?

Do you do stuff together as well?

-No, we don't, but...

-Oh, I see, this is local.

-Right.

-This is this county.

Now, I have difficulty pronouncing...

-Faw-kee-err.

-I beg your pardon?

OK, we're just going!

He's got that caber up, let's give them some encouragement.

Come on, Brady. Show 'em how it's done.

There we go. That's what we came to see.

As I come around...

In Scotland, we love a good argument.

For centuries, we've been famous for fighting.

Don't point that at my face.

I'm going to point it.

It's my job. I kind of have to.

-OK.

-I'm going to let you attack me.

-OK.

-I'm a professional.

Is this going to end up hurting me?

I hope so, but it should be OK.

Is taking a stand a barrier to a beautiful friendship?

Does anyone have any choice but to hold Donald Trump at arm's length?

He sullies everything that he comes in contact with.

You cannot do business with this person and come out whole.

I think it's probably safe to say that there are Scots

who just can't stand Donald Trump, as there are Americans

who can't stand Donald Trump, but I think it would behoove them to...

You know, the American people made their decision

and welcome him with open arms

and have candid talks and move on.

The Donald Trump you saw in Scotland

demonstrated to Scots, before the world understood,

that he is not a man to be trusted.

That this is a person who will do and say almost anything

to gain for himself -

and it's why the world no longer looks to the United States

for the leadership it once provided.

Do you want to thrive? Do you want to prosper?

Do you want to be friends with the most powerful man in the world

who runs the most powerful country in the world?

It's a rhetorical question, right?

Love him or loathe him,

Donald Trump is arguably the most Scottish President in US history.

Remember, Trump's a nice guy.

What would be nice is to be able to predict what will happen next.

Unfortunately, that's not possible.

Looking back, Donald Trump's

dealings in Scotland have left a very mixed legacy.

-Where are we now, David?

-Well, this is our rooftop -

our lookout, if you like. This is where we get the best view from,

where we can see what's going on in the area.

And you're also flying a couple of flags,

the Saltire of Scotland and...

And the Mexican flag.

-Why?

-Well, the Mexican flag is just in solidarity

with the Mexican people.

Basically because Trump has threatened to build a wall

and make them pay for it. He's already tried that here.

He built a fence and sent us a bill for it.

He likes to win.

He's a great deal-maker

and he sees the potential in places and people

and has the ability to create extraordinary things.

Do you think Trump might sell?

No.

-Absolutely not.

-Why are you so sure?

Because he loves this place.