It’s a very long way from the remote pebble-dashed crofts of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland to the palatial splendour of the White House in Washington for Donald Trump.
Yet this Marmite figure has embraced both these aspects on his thorny, often controversial and noisy journey from entrepreneur to becoming US president.
And, whatever one’s views of the man who has just been re-elected to the Oval Office, it’s impossible to dismiss his many links to Scotland, dating back nearly 100 years.
Donald Trump’s Scotland roots are in the Western Isles
Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was raised in a Gaelic-speaking household in Tong, on the Isle of Lewis, made the sort of rags-to-riches story one would expect to find in a Hollywood film script.
The youngster who left Scotland on board the RMS Transylvania in May 11 1930, and worked as a domestic servant on Long Island for four years, witnessed genuine poverty during the worst days of the Great Depression.
She was fixated by the American Dream
But her experiences as an immigrant – one of the many ironic twists in the Trump family story – led to her becoming an ardent believer in the American Dream.
And when she met and married businessman Fred Trump in 1936, it was the start of a family dynasty which led all the way to the highest echelons of US society.
As a parent, Mary was more reserved than her husband, but she poured herself into philanthropic work and was renowned for her elaborate hairstyle, which was described in one account as “a dynamic orange swirl”.
This later became connected with her son, Donald, who later wrote: “Looking back, I realise now that I got some of my sense of showmanship from my mother”.
In short, the two never disguised their passion for Scotland and, even before he defeated Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House in 2016, the Republican politician had spoken about her influence on him as he became embroiled in creating a new golf course at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.
When his mother died in 2000, the notice in the Stornoway Gazette read: “Peacefully in New York on August 7, Mary Ann (sic) Trump, aged 88 years. Daughter of the late Malcolm and Mary MacLeod, 5 Tong. Much missed”.
Mr Trump has never been interested in compromise, either in business or golf.
The same brash, take-no-prisoners approach which he displayed in the American version of The Apprentice was evident when he set about creating his course.
‘It would be the world’s best’
In 2006, he purchased the 1400-acre site with the intention of turning it into a £1bn golf resort, complete with a hotel and hundreds of luxury houses, and what he claimed would be “the world’s best course”, capable of hosting world-class events.
There was significant opposition from many people, not least because parts of the course were designed on a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), which protected the 4,000-year-old sand dunes at Balmedie.
It was a battle of wills which led to many bogeys as the plan attracted all manner of coverage and criticism from A-list figures.
This was a real battle of wills for Donald Trump in Scotland
The controversy involved everybody from the late first minister, Alex Salmond, to Sir Sean Connery and Queen guitarist, Brian May, who sided with local residents, after they were threatened with forced eviction by the Trump organisation.
In 2011, the latter lodged a formal objection to the construction of a giant wind farm off the Aberdeenshire coast, and Donald Trump wrote personally to Mr Salmond.
Tensions were already rising and a documentary You’ve Been Trumped, directed by Anthony Baxter, highlighted the plight of residents adversely affected by the resort.
But, regardless of the sound and fury, the course which was designed by Dr Martin Hawtree, opened in 2012 to generally positive reviews.
Golf Monthly acknowledged the many rows and recriminations which had happened behind the scenes, but offered the critique: “The good news, indeed the great news, is that he has created a masterpiece – an instant classic.
“It’s rare that you play a links where every hole is both strong and unforgettable, but this vast, sprawling course is an unqualified exception.”
That view was shared by such exalted figures as Jack Nicklaus, who has won more golf majors – 18 – than anybody else in history and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, who was involved in the opening of the site.
Trump was piped to the first hole with former Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie, who said it was “an honour” to play on what he described as “a marvel of a course”.
And he dedicated it to the memory of his mother, while continuing his battle to prevent the wind turbines being built; a campaign which was ultimately unsuccessful, though not before it went all the way to the Supreme Court.
These were strange times for many of us who covered the story. On the one hand, protesters such as Michael Forbes and David Milne expressed anger at how the planning application had been railroaded through, with suggestions of political intervention at a higher level. And they spoke passionately about their objections.
Turnberry was next on his list
But, on the other side of the coin, many members of the public applauded Trump’s ambition and welcomed his association with his adopted homeland.
Even after he became an increasingly divisive figure and his purchase of Turnberry in Ayrshire sparked mass demonstrations, one golfing fan told me: “We can see the Donald for what he is – a Lewis man on the make.
“But he has built a terrific golf course and he has created jobs in the process. You don’t have to agree with his politics to see that he is an entrepreneur and a good one.”
He loves his visits to Scotland
Considering the scale of the furore, which has enveloped his spell in the White House, one might imagine that Trump would be glad to avoid any more dealings with Scotland.
But not a word of it. On the contrary, an area of land was earmarked for a second facility in Aberdeenshire and this has gone relatively smoothly.
Conservation experts had again urged Aberdeenshire Council to block the proposal, but members gave the new championship course, designed to complement the existing Trump International Golf Links Scotland the go-ahead, despite concerns from locals, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and other bodies.
The new 18-hole course has been named MacLeod – after his mother – and will share the golf house and related facilities currently serving the Menie Course.
Work is almost finished on the project and it doesn’t appear to matter that both the original course and Turnberry have incurred significant losses in recent years.
When the first Menie Estate initiative was proposed, Trump pledged to create up to 6,000 jobs by building a five-star hotel with 450 rooms, shops, a sports complex, timeshare flats, and up to 650 luxury houses.
There were big promises made
Almost none of this materialised.
But now he has become US president for a second term, could Trump be packing his clubs and heading to Scotland in the coming months, as he talks up his resorts with a grateful nod to his MAGA supporters?
On balance, perhaps “a Lewis man on the make” isn’t a bad description.
It was certainly too much for his opponent in this week’s clash between Lewis and Harris.
Further reading on Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course ambitions over the years, and now:
Trump at Menie: The untold tales of intrigue, threats of violence and destroyed friendships
Trump reveals plans for new ‘halfway house’ hut on sand dunes at Menie golf course
Trump housing cash to be shared between Tipperty and Foveran schools under merger plan
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