What were Donald Trump's 5 key comments as he opened new Balmedie golf course?
Here, we count down five of the key takeaways from the US President's speech at the Menie Estate.
The opening of the second course marks a milestone for a development dogged by controversy for some time.
And the billionaire made sure to pay homage to those he says helped get it off the ground.
The Edinburgh-born actor reportedly spoke in support of the controversial plans for an initial course back when they were launched in 2008.
And at a special ceremony for the new Balmedie course today, the president referred back to the very start of the project.
He admitted there has been some opposition to the plans over the years.
Recalling how it all started, Trump thanked Sean Connery for reportedly having his back.
Trying to imitate his notable accent, the president said: 'The land, they said it couldn't get zoned. It was an impossibility. And Sean Connery said: 'Let the bloody bloke build his golf course'.
'Once he said that, everything came into line.
'You'll probably never see another course built in the dunes, not dunes like this.'
Residents at Balmedie and environmental groups spent years fighting the Trump International Golf Links project, saying it would ruin the area's famous sand dunes.
And his visit was marked with a string of protests in Aberdeen and just yards away from the course in Balmedie.
But Mr Trump said things had changed with the folk who spent years fighting to stop the course…
He added: 'We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful.
'And the area has really welcomed us. If you remember at the beginning, it wasn't quite a welcome… but it wasn't bad.
'But with time, they've liked us more and more. Now they love us and we love them.'
Donald Trump took a step back from the project when he took the presidential post, leaving the responsibility for the second golf course to his son Eric.
In an interview last November, the 41-year-old said this course would be 'the Mona Lisa of golf courses'.
He also revealed how even dreadful 'snow squalls' didn't deter him from inspecting every inch of the project during the winter visit.
And today, Donald Trump thanked him for doing a 'terrific' job and achieving what 'many called an impossibility'.
The US head of state was spotted out on the range taking a few practice swings with sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric before joining the opening ceremony.
Donning a white USA cap, the president opened the New Course at Balmedie with a speech to high-profile guests, dignitaries from all walks of life and the press.
First Minister John Swinney, His Majesty's Lord Lieutenant Sandy Manson and former football players Robbie Fowler, Jim Leighton, Gianfranco Zola and Andrei Shevchenko were just some of the names in attendance.
Things have not always been that smooth between The First Minister and the president, with tempers flaring after Mr Swinney backed Democrat Kamala Harris in last year's US election.
Days ago, the Scottish Government pledged £180,000 towards an upcoming competition at the Aberdeenshire resort.
And today Mr Trump lauded the politician with praise.
Before cutting the ribbon, he said: 'The First Minister is here. John, would you stand up?
'John Swinney is a terrific guy who loves golf, loves the people of this country, and we really appreciated it. Thank you for everything, John.'
Speaking afterwards, the SNP leader said he had spoken to Mr Trump about protection for the whisky industry.
The president thanked everyone for their 'tremendous support' – with a special nod to Sarah Malone, who had worked with them on the project for more than 16 years.
The executive vice president of Trump International Scotland got emotional as Eric and Donald Trump presented her with a large collage of photos from throughout the years.
And after this moment, the president cut the red ribbon with the words: 'It's going to be a special day and it's going to be a special year, and it's going to be a special decade.
'And we're going to make all of our countries strong and great and really wonderful again.'
President Trump was the very first person to play the first tee on the New Course today – with the crowd cheering as he hit the ball.
He was followed by his son, Eric, and then former football players Robbie Fowler and Jim Leighton.
He will be flying back to Washington DC later today after 'hitting a couple of balls'.
Trump added: 'I look forward to playing it today. We'll play it very quickly and then I go back to DC and we put out fires all over the world.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
a minute ago
- Daily Mirror
Tim Minchin: 'Mum's death was gutting as she'll never see my kids grow up'
Comedian and singer-songwriter Tim Minchin opens up about his family, the loss of his beloved mum Ros to blood cancer, and why he never reads his own reviews It's been 20 years since Australian comedian Tim Minchin first registered on British radars with his award-winning Edinburgh show Darkside, a mix of comedy songs, political jokes and poignant, witty reflections on his own life, all played barefoot at his piano. Since then the Northampton-born musician has written and starred in the Netflix drama Upright, released six albums of his work and created the critically acclaimed musical Matilda - inspired by the Roald Dahl book - which, in 2025, celebrates 15 years of West End success. It has won seven Olivier awards and four Tonys and is about to start a second UK and Ireland tour with a new cast. Now about to turn 50, and having re-recorded an album of his old songs, Tim is in a reflective mood. While he is tired after finishing a 33-gig UK tour this summer, he feels happier than ever getting to do what he loves. But the last two years have had challenges. Tim lost his mum Ros in 2023 after a three-year battle with blood cancer. He performed in Sydney hours after she died, having spent as much time with her as he could in her final months. "I'm a deeply pragmatic person, I'm quite emotionally intelligent and I'm a reasonable observer of both my own and other people's emotions, so your mum dies, and that's like one of the rules," he says. "If you're lucky, she goes before you. If she dies at 74 like mine, we're lucky to have had her that long. "But sometimes I feel like she's missing all of this, as she would have loved to see her grandkids getting older. " He laughingly describes his children, Violet and Caspar as "pretty different and cats, my kids". The teenagers, who he shares with childhood sweetheart Sarah, feature in some of his songs - Lullaby, which he wrote when Violet was a sleep-dodging baby, carries the immortal line, 'When is rocking rocking, and when is it shaking?' "We really struggled with her. She liked being rocked, but it was like, 'is this alright? I'm throwing this kid around,'" he laughs. Family is so important to Tim, who lives with wife Sarah in Sydney when he's not travelling. His dad David came to the UK for Tim's recent tour and the Minchins have a novel way of keeping in touch: by reporting their daily exercise to each other. "Although Dad's been grieving, he's also been like, well, I don't have long, I'd better travel," says Tim. "We're very close, my family, my three siblings and me. We are all talking, all the time." When he's not writing new lyrics or recording - his new album TimMinchinTimeMachine is a look back at 20 years' worth of his favourite songs - Tim stays off social media and 24-hour news. "I was on Twitter in the early days, and I think once some troll said something, and I slapped them down," he recalls. "And all my fans piled on this person and I just went, 'I will never do that again'. "I can't believe that in 2025, people still set their dogs on each other. After Trump and Brexit happened, I got out of Twitter, I just went, 'this is horrible, toxic'. Now I'm off everything. I had to go cold turkey, I was completely addicted." In his free time, Tim reads books and checks the news every three days or so to keep away from the dreaded doomscrolling. "It's this perpetual humankind panic, as if none of this stuff's ever happened before. I can't be happy and have all that stuff [in my head]. Now I'm trying to teach my kids the same thing," he says. The same mentality extends to his critics - he refuses to read reviews of shows, knowing a single criticism would make him spiral. "I'm just too fragile. And I'm not ashamed of that - you have to be, to do what I do. You have to be open-hearted," he says. "I have confidence in my work now. A long time ago I thought, 'who do I listen to? I'm not like anyone else.' [Anything I read about myself ] is in my head the next day when I go on stage. And that's just no good to me, because to do what I do requires a massive leap, almost like a suspension of disbelief. "The person that I am when I walk on stage is a person completely confident, to have up to 7,000 people hanging on my every word," he says. "And that is not who I always feel like. Sometimes it feels impossible."
Reuters
a minute ago
- Reuters
US to rule on biofuel waivers, but big oil refiners may need to wait, sources say
Aug 21 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration is expected to rule on a growing backlog of requests from small oil refiners seeking relief from U.S. biofuel laws as early as Friday, but will delay a decision on whether larger refiners must compensate by boosting their own biofuel blending, according to two sources familiar with the planning. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday will announce decisions on some of the 195 pending small refinery exemption requests that date back as far as 2016, the sources said. The rulings will not be a sweeping win for small refiners, and will include some partial denials of waivers, according to one of the sources briefed on the decisions. The administration is also expected to issue a supplemental rule as early as next week to seek public comment on whether larger refiners should make up for the exempted gallons in a process known as reallocation, the source said. How the administration deals with exemption requests and the reallocation issues will have consequences for the oil and agricultural industries, and impact the price of commodities from gasoline and renewable diesel to soybeans and corn, along with the companies that produce them. In the past, widespread exemptions without reallocation have sent renewable blending credit prices lower, denting prices for corn-based ethanol and soybean-based biofuel. The EPA and White House did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard requires refiners to blend biofuels like ethanol into the fuel pool or by the tradable credits, known as RINs, from refiners who do. Small refiners can petition the EPA to receive an exemption if they can show financial hardship. The EPA has a mounting backlog of such requests going back years - the result of political indecision and legal wrangling across multiple administrations. Both the agriculture and the oil industries are keen for resolution. Granting exemptions without forcing other refiners to make up the difference increases the supply of credits and puts downward pressure on their prices. Farm and biofuel groups have lobbied the EPA to limit the number of exemptions and to force other refiners to make up for exempted gallons. The oil industry is strongly opposed to reallocation, arguing it creates an uneven playing field and imposes burdensome regulatory costs. The EPA said earlier this year that it would force larger refiners to make up for future exempted gallons, but was silent on how it would treat exempt gallons from the dozens of backlogged requests. The supplemental rule will include various options in a bid to test how the market may respond, the sources said.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Wisconsin court commissioner resigns after dispute over immigration warrant
A Wisconsin court commissioner has resigned from his job after he asked to see an immigration arrest warrant, the latest conflict between judges and President Donald Trump 's administration over the Republican's sweeping immigration crackdown. Peter Navis, who worked as a Walworth County Court Commissioner for four years, resigned from his position last month, county clerk Michelle Jacobs said Thursday. She declined to comment further because it is a personnel matter. The incident that cost Navis his job happened on July 15. It was first reported on Thursday by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The blowup in Navis' courtroom comes after Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was charged in May with obstructing federal officers and attempting to hide a person to avoid arrest. Authorities said Dugan tried to help a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who wanted to arrest him in her courthouse. Dugan is seeking to have the charges against her dropped, arguing that she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. A ruling on that motion by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman is pending. Navis was presiding in his courtroom that day in the case of Enrrique Onan Zamora Castro, of Milwaukee, who faced a misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license for the second time in three years. A court transcript shows that Navis objected to sheriff's deputies attempting to detain Castro on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, without a valid federal warrant. 'In my courtroom, a person cannot be detained without lawful authority,' Navis said in the transcript. The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Herrmann, said Navis had no right to see the warrant, according to the transcript. Herrmann did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment. According to the transcript, Navis said, 'I've been instructed by the judges of this county to require warrants before individuals are detained in my courtroom.' None of the four Walworth County judges returned emails seeking comment. Walworth County Clerk of Courts Michele Jacobs said deputies routinely arrest people on warrants in the courthouse. Walworth County Sheriff Dave Gerber and ICE officials did not respond to email messages seeking comment. Walworth County, home to about 100,000 people, is in south-central Wisconsin along the Illinois border. Trump won the county with about 60% of the vote in November.
