A north-east man who clashed with Donald Trump over his Aberdeenshire golf resort has described his election antics as “par for the course”.
David Milne famously clashed with the American president over his golf course near Balmedie, with Trump attempting to get a compulsory purchase order for his home, and even erecting a barrier around the property and sending David the bill.
Throughout the US election process Trump has made claims of fraud and claimed that he is the rightful winner, despite his opponent being declared the victor.
And now David has described the president’s behaviour over the election as “par for the course”.
He said: “My first comment is congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Rather obviously, they’re the legitimate winners of this election.
“I’m not surprised to see Trump’s reaction since he lost the election.
“The resorting to legal routes and having set up to align the court in the US is very similar to what he did here.
“As soon as a decision went against him there were legal threats and challenges.
“These are the sort of things he does.
“He’s nothing but a child who has never grown up. Something doesn’t go his way and the toys come out of the pram. The way things are going in the States there may be a pram flying about.
“It’s just par for the course.”
Meanwhile Aberdeenshire councillor Martin Ford has claimed “the world will be a better place for not having Donald Trump as US president” after Joe Biden was declared president-elect of the United States.
Mr Ford, who sits on the East Garioch ward, expressed his delight that the Democrat candidate will take up his role in office after surpassing the threshold required to win the race for the White House.
Mr Ford said: “I’m delighted Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won. It’s good news for the US and for everyone else.
“The world will be a better place for not having Donald Trump as US president.”
Mr Ford has said he feels outgoing president Donald Trump’s behaviour since polling day has been “appalling, disgraceful – but not surprising.”
He continued: “Of course, Aberdeenshire residents know what to expect when a vote doesn’t go Mr Trump’s way.
“Mr Trump has just done exactly what he did when he lost the vote on his Menie golf resort planning application.
“Called the process into question with false claims. Whipped up supporters with incendiary language. Threatened legal action. Set out to create chaos and uncertainty in the hope of overturning a decision arrived at by due process so as to get the outcome that benefits him.
“It’s not going to work this time.
“There is no Alex Salmond equivalent for a presidential election who could intervene in Mr Trump’s favour.”
Despite condemning Mr Trump and those who backed him across the United States, Mr Ford has warned that similar candidates could appear in British politics.
He added: “I am appalled that 70 million people voted to keep Mr Trump in office.
“No one can reasonably claim not to understand what he is.
“We shouldn’t be too smug, though. It is clearly not the case that it couldn’t happen here.
“It was, I thought, perfectly obvious in 2007 that Mr Trump’s claims about his planned Aberdeenshire golf resort were absurd exaggerations and nonsense — as they have turned out to be.
“What he stood for then was the same as what he stands for now. His narcissism has always dominated his behaviour. Yet, here, in 2007, many believed him and supported him and continued to do so for far too long.
“At one level, I am so relieved by the US presidential election result. But while Mr Trump is on his way out, it appears views and values that I had thought were disappearing are still accepted and supported by disturbingly large numbers of people.
“That is very troubling.”
Trump’s press office did not respond when contacted for comment.