donald trump vs. michael forbes

Donald Trump may think that he’s all big and mighty, sparking all sorts of interest with his new book, his upcoming celebrity Apprentice, and his ever-growing real estate empire. But he just got bitch slapped by some old farmer in a kilt. Ha!

Apparently, the Donald is in the process of developing a giant golf course and resort in Scotland, acquiring a huge chunk of land that he can develop into yet another world class destination. Everything seemed to falling in place until he ran into a Scottish fisherman named Michael Forbes. Yes, the last name is a little ironic, but let’s leave that part out for now. What happened is that Forbes owns a rather important piece of land adjacent to the Trump development in Scotland and he’s not willing to sell.

While I haven’t found a source to confirm this, my dad was telling me that Donald Trump went on the record somewhere with a less-than-pleasant reference to Forbes and his Scottish farm. When asked by an interviewer about the piece of land in question, Trump replied by saying that it is little more than a pig sty. He said that it was an “eyesore” to be so close to his £500million golf resort, but he would have no problem acquiring the land to complete his development. Forbes naturally took exception and adamantly told Mr. Trump that he would never sell the land to him.

It’s reported that the Trump organization made several formal offers to the 52-year-old Scotsman. The last formal written offer received by Forbes was for £350,000. Michael Forbes would mark every subsequent letter as “return to sender”. Some even say that the offer got as high as £1million, including a £50,000-a-year job for life. Forbes replied by saying, “I told them from the start the place wasn’t for sale. I wouldn’t go and work for them if it was the last job in the world.” See what too much positive thinking gets you, Donald?

While I applaud Forbes for his determination and sense of dignity, I think that he will crumble for the right price. He’s a very modest Scottish farmer and looking at the picture provided above, he doesn’t look like much of a classy individual. Never sell? I find that hard to believe. If the Donald paid him a personal visit and put $100 million on the table, Michael Forbes would be on the first thing smoking out of the region. That said, I don’t know how much this plot of land is worth to Donald Trump. He could always design his new resort around the ugly Scottish farm, planting a bunch of really tall trees to block the view or something.

Source: Daily Mail