Back in 2007 when Trump was just a boorish reality TV star and property developer only vaguely known to the British public, his proposed scheme to build a golf course and luxury hotel and housing complex on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire was refused planning permission by the local council. The dunes on which he planned to build were described as one of Scotland’s last wildernesses and the project was deemed incompatible with the interests of an area that has been awarded a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
However, never one to be thwarted Trump won the support of SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond and the decision was reversed. They subsequently fell out when the SNP supported offshore wind farms that Trump claimed spoiled the view from his golf course. Anthony Baxter’s documentary You’ve Been Trumped released in 2011 and screened on the BBC showed the Trump Estate bulldozing large stretches of the dunes and the impact of this on neighbouring families whose homes were walled in by sand and other obstructions. The critically praised film documented fences and access roads being erected on the families’ land without their permission, electricity cables cut, water supply cut off and intrusive surveillance by Trump’s security personal who shine lights at the families’ house in the night with no action taken by the local police. In fact, the police are shown arresting the director when talking to one of the aggrieved local residents in a scene which reveals how much hold the property tycoon had over the local law enforcement. A friend of mine in Liverpool who saw the film described wanting to throw her television out of the window in fury at what was revealed of Trump International’s underhand tactics. Trump petulantly tweeted at the director Baxter in characteristic style: ‘Only the stupid BBC would air your garbage – no wonder they are in such trouble’.
The film clearly got under his skin. Trump had refused to answer questions from such a ‘nobody’ in the first film, but Trump and his son Donald Trump Junior, who now oversees Trump International Golf Links, did agree to be interviewed by Baxter in his sequel You’ve Been Trumped Too – only recently released after protracted legal threats. Donald Trump Junior has the malevolent air of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, but with a penchant for hunting elephants and big cats. Trump tries to intimidate Baxter by belittling the equipment he brings for the interview at Trump Towers, but just makes himself look even more petty and unpleasant.
The sequel builds on many of the insights of the first film to produce a devastating character study on the eve of thiselection. In fact, the film was supposed to be aired before the last election (in 2016), but threats against anyone daring to screen it meant it was effectively banned at the time. The sequel still feels urgent and timely which might explain why it went to the top of the iTunes download chart. We catch up with some of the principal characters of You’ve Been Trumpedincluding Michael Forbes a part-time farmer who became a national celebrity through his refusal to sell his land to the ‘New York clown’ – which is in the middle of Trump’s development plans. Forbes, has been repeatedly and publicly insulted by Donald Trump. “His property is slumlike […] It’s disgusting. He’s got stuff thrown all over the place. He lives like a pig”. Michael Forbes’s mother 92-year-old Molly Forbes is shown collecting water in a bucket from a local well after Trump International broke the pipe supplying her water and essentially refusing to fix it.
Michael Forbes and his wife Sheila fly to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to try to explain and show (through photographs) the impact Trump has had on their lives to some of his supporters, but it must be said that they have little success. One says, ‘Well maybe he was right to do that’ so convinced is he that Trump can do no wrong. Ultimately the film reveals that while Trump may be deeply unpopular in Scotland and perhaps the whole UK, his base in the United States remain true believers of his huckster’s schtick.
The confrontational, oafish bully revealed in You’ve Been Trumped proved to be exactly the same man that we have all seen as America’s choice for the last four years as their President. Perhaps this man reveals the darker side of America – brash, aggressive, narcissistic, humourless and vindictive? Or perhaps it shows that a showman with the self-aggrandizing patter of a WWF wrestler on steroids sounds more authentic than traditional American politicians?
Either way, You’ve Been Trumped and its sequel are a warning of what the man is capable of and a study of his business practices and character. It leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.
You’ve Been Trumped Too is currently available to rent on Vimeo and a number of other platforms – including Amazon Prime where it can be rented for 99p.
David McQueen
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