Wind turbine plan will drive my golf course out of Scotland, says Trump

Donald Trump, the scourge of conservationists for his plans to build a golf course on Scotland's north-east coast, claimed yesterday that it was wind turbines and not his resort that would ruin the environment – and threatened to abandon his project if they were not scrapped.

"Your pristine countryside and coastlines will forever be destroyed and Scotland will go broke," the US billionaire said in a written submission to the Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. He added that building "these industrial monstrosities" would "completely end" tourism in Scotland and would lead to "financial suicide".

Mr Trump has already halted work on his controversial luxury development on a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Aberdeenshire because of the prospect of an offshore wind farm being built nearby. "If I had known about the current wind turbine proposals, I would never have built in Scotland," he said.

But the Green MSP Patrick Harvie said Mr Trump's "latest rant shows how weak his grasp on reality is", adding that the tycoon would create a "circus atmosphere" when he is due to give evidence to the committee next week.