Neil Hobday, the former project director for former President Trump’s golf course in Scotland, expressed that the country was tricked by his assertions that he would invest 1 billion pounds in expanding the property.
Hodbay stated to the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) that he felt deceived and embarrassed that he and Scotland were persuaded by Trump’s exaggerated claims.
Trump stated that he would invest one billion British pounds in the new venture, approximately $1.2 billion. Hobday was the consulting project director for Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course, which debuted in 2012. BBC News reported.
In 2006, Trump bought land near Aberdeen. He had intended for the 18-hole course to include a five-star hotel, villas, and more, and was supported by the local economy seeking tourism and employment opportunities.
In 2018, Trump’s golf course reportedly ruined the majority of protected sand dunes in the area, despite a promise not to. Following its launch in 2012, the golf course failed to fulfill its pledges, resulting in significant financial losses.
BBC News reported that the Trump Organization claimed to have invested around 100 million pounds in the Aberdeenshire golf resort, but new financial records indicate that the facility is valued at 33.2 million pounds. It has incurred losses of 13.3 million pounds since opening.
“I don’t think even if he could raise the money to build the whole thing out, he wanted the golf course and that was it,” he said. “He was willing to fight the environmental battle and create this impression that this was a $1 billion project and Scotland absolutely needed it. But I think he never really had the money or the intention of finishing it.”
“I feel very hoodwinked and ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it. He was never going to do it,” Hobday said.
Trump’s Aberdeenshire course was included in his New York civil fraud case, which found he conspired to alter his net worth to receive better tax and insurance benefits. A judge found Trump liable and ordered him to pay more than $355 million in penalties.
In May 2023, Trump traveled to Scotland to break ground on a new golf course in honor of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
