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Donald Trump and Selina Scott row reignited over DVDs
Ben Bailey6 Aug 2009
A row has reignited between US property tycoon Donald Trump and television presenter Selina Scott after more than a decade.
The pair first traded insults in 1995, shortly after the broadcast of a documentary in which Scott interviewed the billionaire.
Now the documentary has returned to public attention after DVDs of it were sent to councillors in Aberdeenshire, where Mr Trump plans to build a controversial £1 billion golf resort.
Mr Trump used the distribution of the DVDs to launch a fresh attack on Scott, branding her a "third-class journalist".
In response, Scott suggested the tycoon was making himself "look as ridiculous as the thatch he wears on his head".
Mr Trump's plans for the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire include hundreds of homes and two championship courses, and have attracted opposition from environmentalists in particular.
The DVDs were sent anonymously to all 68 members of the council, along with a note stating: "Know who you are dealing with."
Mr Trump's representatives attacked the move as a "smear", and Grampian Police confirmed they were looking at whether a crime had been committed.
The documentary, in which contributors questioned Mr Trump's business dealings, features interviews between him and Scott at locations in the US.
Weeks after it was broadcast, Mr Trump described Scott as "obnoxious, repetitive and not at all very smart".
Scott responded by saying the tycoon had "an ego as big as the Empire State Building".
In his latest attack, Mr Trump said: "Selina Scott was a third-class journalist who is now ancient history and she treated me unfairly. It was a boring story then and she has since faded into oblivion where she belongs."
Scott again hit back, telling the Scotsman newspaper today: "Whether beautiful, protected, wild country should be ploughed up for hotel accommodation, in order to enhance Mr Trump's corporation in America, is a matter for the good citizens of Aberdeenshire.
"However, once again Mr Trump has made himself look as ridiculous as the thatch he wears on his head."
The distribution of the DVDs was criticised by George Sorial, managing director for international development at the Trump Organisation.
He said: "It's an attempt to smear Mr Trump in some way. It's pathetic. If you have something to say about the project, you should stand up and say it. I think these anonymous submissions are truly the actions of a weakling and a coward."
Mr Trump's Aberdeenshire plans were initially thrown out by a council committee, before the Scottish Government called them in and approved them last year.
Reader views (1)
Ms Scott is right.Donald Trump has no regard for anything other than his own ego.
His golf developments in the US are overhyped and sold to a gullible audience of sycophants who neither understand golf or care for the environment and who see the way Mt Trump conducts business as somehow admirable.The man is smoke and mirrors and I doubt if his grandiose and over ambitious plans will be realised.His credit worthiness is constantly overrated and more often overstated.A bad decision by Mr Alex Salmond in whose constituency it is.
- Ian Dalziel, Geneva switzerland., 06/08/2009 16:52
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