When Donald Trump almost abandoned ‘world’s best golf course’ plan

LONDON - Real estate tycoon and reality television host Donald Trump has admitted that he considered abandoning his controversial plans to build the world’s greatest golf course on an environmentally sensitive stretch of the Aberdeenshire coastline.

The billionaire also revealed that he almost fired the senior executive appointed to mastermind the golf resort development, after learning the 750 million pound scheme had been thrown out on the casting vote of the chairman of the local planning authority.

His startling admission came during an emotional address to students at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University on Friday, where the American received his first honorary degree, The Scotsman reports.

“There were times when we probably should have given up - most people would have given up. We had an unexpected turn of events. We were going along well, we were getting all the environmental permits, we were getting kudos, a poll said 93 per cent were in favour,” Trump said.

“So everyone involved - myself, all the people that had been working on it - said, great, this is going really well, we’re going to get a positive vote from the council and that will be that.”

But his world fell apart in an early morning phone call to Trump Towers in New York from George Sorial, the Trump Organisation’s managing director of international development appointed to mastermind the Menie development, The Scotsman reports.

“I will never forget, I got call at seven in the morning in New York from the project manager, who’s done an amazing job, George Sorial, and he said Mr Trump you’re not going to believe it. And he told me we expected to win 9-2 and we ended up losing 8-7. He said we lost. I said ‘Lost - how did that happen?’ And I got very angry.”

He added: “There were a lot of people - hundreds of people who lived in the area -who wrote to me and said please don’t stop, please, please don’t give up. And I made the decision to continue to go forward.” (ANI)