A report in today’s Guardian suggests that Donald Trump’s plans for a £750m (that’s approximately $12 trillion US) resort in Scotland are on the verge of unravelling.

Trump has halted development on the project – modestly dubbed the “Trump International Golf Links” – ostensibly as a result of a local authority decision to construct an offshore wind farm, but thebillionaire’s critics see the decision as further evidence of the resort’s underperformance.

Though the first of the Trump Golf Links’ two 18-hole courses has already been completed, the property mogul has postponed completion of its sister course, five-star hotel and a number of “luxury” villas pending a favourable resolution of the wind farm question:

“All further plans for future development, including the hotel, are now on hold…

“If the north-east of Scotland is serious about tourism and creating a global golf destination it cannot allow the coastline to be ruined by an ugly industrial park (11 64-storey test turbines) directly off the shoreline.”

David Milne, a local resident who leapt to prominence when he refused to sell his property to the vulgarian reality television star, suspects criticism of the wind farm project is designed to divert attention from the resort’s imminent failure:

“I firmly believe he is just trying to sell. The planning permission he gained [for the clubhouse] was the final piece to increase the sale value of the golf course. That is the only reason they bothered going for it.

“The course is not selling as well as he thought. He has only sold 3,000 rounds of golf, and that’s less than a month’s worth of golfing after months of intensive marketing. He hasn’t got the money, no investors are interested, and he is going to cut his losses and run.”

Lending credence to Milne’s claim is the fact that investment in the wind farm appears nearly certain to proceed. The centrepiece of a national energy initiative, its approval will likely prove little more than a formality.

Conor Nagle