Donald Trump Claims Alex Salmond, Scottish Government 'Lured' Him Into Investing In Scotland

Donald Trump Claims Holyrood 'Lured' Him Into Investing

Donald Trump has complained he was "lured" into investing in Scotland by two First Ministers.

The US businessman said he was assured by Alex Salmond and Jack McConnell before him that an offshore wind turbine development would not be built near his golf resort on the Aberdeenshire coast.

Both politicians deny they gave assurances.

But Mr Trump said: "What they did is they lured me in. I spent this money and now I might regret it.

"I think other people that want to invest in Scotland are watching me, and they're watching what happened and I think they're going to say, 'We're not going to invest in Scotland'."

Mr Trump made the comments in a dramatic appearance before a Scottish Parliament committee probing the Scottish Government's renewable energy targets.

In a series of exchanges, Mr Trump warned that the drive for wind farms will "destroy" tourism, claimed climate change is not man-made and said Scottish renewable targets are "phoney".

He claimed to be an expert on tourism and opinion polls, and rejected suggestions that he was using opposition to the offshore development as a face-saving exercise to pull out.

Despite being asked to discuss the SNP administration's energy targets, Mr Trump repeatedly focused on his fight to stop an 11-turbine offshore test centre in Aberdeen Bay.

Asked to point to evidence that wind farms will destroy tourism, Mr Trump declared: "I am the evidence."

He added: "Now I've invested tens of millions of pounds, I've completed my site ahead of schedule. I've built something that even my enemies say is the most spectacular.

"After I've invested this tremendous amount of money, all of a sudden this really obnoxious and ugly wind farm appears - which is worse than a wind farm because there is going to be all these different looking windmills.

"It's going to look like Disneyland - except a bad version of Disneyland."

Mr Trump said he "felt betrayed" because he had invested his money because of statements that had been made to him.

He later elaborated on the "assurances" from Mr Salmond, saying he was invited to a dinner in New York where he was "strongly led to believe" there would be no wind farm.

On his own investment, Mr Trump said the money would have been spent in Ireland if he had known turbines could be built one mile from his resort.

"If you remember - and there was a big hoopla - I was going to go and I was going to build in Ireland, because of the fact that the wind farm was going to be built fairly near our course in Scotland," he told the committee.

"It's going to look like Disneyland - except a bad version of Disneyland."

Mr Trump said he "felt betrayed" because he had invested his money because of statements that had been made to him.

He later elaborated on the "assurances" from Mr Salmond, saying he was invited to a dinner in New York where he was "strongly led to believe" there would be no wind farm.

But Mr Salmond, who was in London today, said: "It's stuff and nonsense. There has never been such an assurance."

Widening his complaint to national energy targets, Mr Trump told Holyrood's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee: "If you pursue this goal of these monsters all over Scotland, Scotland will go broke. As sure as you're sitting there, Scotland will go broke."

Following the meeting, the Trump entourage - including son Donald junior - walked from the Parliament into a demonstration of pro and anti wind farm groups.

To chants of "there's only one Donald Trump" and "Trump out", Mr Trump shook hands with supporters as he made his way, flanked by police, to a waiting car.

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