Former US President Donald Trump has called Scots “great, tough people” and “good fighters”, while speaking openly about his mother and father.
The American politician – who served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021 – is one of five children of Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump.
His mother was a Scottish immigrant and she was only 18 when she first arrived in New York, traveling from the Isle of Lewis in search of domestic work.
Six years later, she married Fred and moved with him to an affluent part of Queens, where she became a U.S. citizen in 1942 and died in 2000.
Trump’s father Fred was born in New York in 1905 to German immigrants and made his fortune building affordable housing for middle-income families during and after World War II. He died in 1999.
The former president, 78, reconnected with his Scottish heritage by owning two golf clubs in Aberdeenshire.
This week he announced that he will open a second golf course, expanding an already existing course from 2012, by transforming an 18-hole resort into “the largest 36 holes in the world.”
On Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant with Akaash Singh podcast, Trump spoke fondly of his parents
The 18-hole MacLeod Course is located next to the original links, which opened in 2012 after a long, controversial planning process (Photo: Donald Trump plays a round of golf after the opening of The Trump International Golf Links Course on July 10, 2012)
Donald Trump seen here with his father Fred and mother Mary Anne in New York in 1992
Former President Trump with his mother in 1977; Mary Anne Trump died in 2000
A view of Trump’s luxury golf course and resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire
Donald Trump has announced that his new links golf course will open in Aberdeen in the summer of 2025. The photo shows the location for the new championship links golf course
On Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant with Akaash Singh podcast, Trump spoke fondly of his parents.
He said: ‘The Scottish people… they’re really great people, they’re tough people. They are good fighters. [My mother ] was funny, she had a great sense of humor.
‘My father loved my mother. My father was German. He was serious…he was a tough guy, but he had a good heart.
“We would walk down the street and if anyone had a can, my dad would always put $100 in it. He had a great heart. He was no-nonsense, he was firm.
‘My mother was a woman. She loved the queen…the queen was wonderful. The queen honored me before she died.
“She honored me as president at Buckingham Palace.
‘There is no one who does it like the English… the splendor and splendor. My mother would have loved that. She thought the queen was so wonderful.’
It comes after Trump announced that players will be welcome at the MacLeod Course – named after the former US president’s mother Mary – at the Trump International resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, from the summer of 2025.
Mr Trump handed over control of both his Scottish courses to his son Eric (pictured in August). He became president in 2017 but retained a financial stake
The 18-hole MacLeod Course (pictured right) will be built adjacent to the original links at Balmedie, which opened in 2012 after a long, controversial planning process
Plans for the course were approved in 2019, alongside proposals for 550 new homes in the area north of Aberdeen, along with shops, offices and restaurants.
Planners revealed it had received 2,921 valid comments from the public about the plan, of which 2,918 were objections and only 3 supported the Trump Organization’s application.
But despite significant local opposition – and a lack of local support – the council approved the £150 million plan.
Trump International claimed the new course was ‘one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable’ ever built, as images show it is on the beach, meters from the North Sea.
Trump International Golf Links had been involved in a long-running dispute with residents in the area over the project, which led to Aberdeenshire Council being bombarded with complaints when the plans were first announced.
Trump International Scotland vice president Sarah Malone said in a statement: “Since breaking ground with President Trump and [his son] Eric Trump last spring, we made extraordinary progress.
Trump International claimed the new course was “one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable” ever built
Trump International Golf Links had been involved in a long-running dispute with residents in the area over the project (pictured under construction in August 2024), when Aberdeenshire Council was bombarded with complaints from locals objecting to the plans
‘This course is unlike any other links course ever built and exceeds all expectations.
‘There are few large stretches of developable connections in the world that are as good as this.
‘A truly remarkable team of world-class architects, engineers, environmental scientists and industry specialists have worked tirelessly in the background – carving out every square inch of this phenomenal piece of land to create one of the great wonders of golf.’
Aberdeen is one of two Scottish golf clubs owned by the Trump Organization, a 97-year-old company founded by Trump’s paternal grandmother.
Led by Trump’s father Fred, the Trump Organization focused primarily on building middle-income apartments in Queens and Brooklyn, New York, until the 1970s.
But with his son at the helm, the Trump Organization moved to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, casinos in Atlantic City and a number of golf resorts with mixed success.
Trump’s course in Aberdeen was once the source of significant local controversy when the reported billionaire bought the land in 2006.
Environmentalists at the time were concerned that the course would impact wildlife along the Aberdeenshire coast.
Images of the new track show that it is located on the beach, a few meters from the North Sea
Players are welcomed to the MacLeod Course – named after the former US president’s mother Mary – at the Trump International resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire
Additionally, Trump fought a proposed wind farm, claiming the turbines were “ugly” and “environmentally irresponsible.”
Ultimately, Trump would lose his legal battle against the wind farm, which still surrounds the Aberdeen club.
Trump’s presidency proved to be a complicated time for his Scottish golf courses, both of which reported financial losses during his tenure in the White House.
A 2019 report from Politico accused Trump of diverting Air National Guard flights through Scotland’s Prestwick Airport in an alleged attempt to prop up another club, Trump Turnberry.
Prestwick Airport remains open, allowing Trump clients to visit Turnberry, but the Scottish government is reportedly planning to sell the facility to a private buyer.
Turnberry reportedly charges £1,000 for a round, which ranks as the most expensive in Europe.
In addition, Jets owner and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson was reportedly asked by Trump to help him bring the British Open to one of his courses, according to a New York Times report. Johnson was ultimately unsuccessful.
Trump’s struggles continued in Scotland after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Turnberry, in South Ayrshire, reportedly lost $4.8 million in 2021, while in Aberdeen its stock was almost $1 million in the red.