Argyll News: Argyll,Aberdeen.Balmedie,golf,Trump,bankruptcy:

Trump empire in trouble - where does that leave Balmedie golf course?

It may well be that Aberdeen Councillor, Martin Ford, lost his Infrastructure Committee chairmanship (and recently left the council) in vain when he used his casting vote to block Donald Trump’s application to build two new golf courses and a golf resort complex ain the sand dunes at Aberdeen’s Menie Estate.

The most powerful obstacle to Trump’s plans for Aberdeen - whether or not you support them - may be about to enter the stage: bankruptcy. The world-wide credit crunch looks as if its hitting the American entrepreneur hard.

Trump Entertainment Resorts announced on 30th November 2008 that it is having to miss the $53.1 Million interest payment due to it’s bondholders yesterday (1st December). It laid the responsibility on a collapse in revenues and a poor economic environment. The company, which operates casinos at Atlantic City in New Jersey, says it doesn’t have the liquidity to make the payment.

In a separate action, Deutsche Bank AG filed suit against Donald Trump for failing to pay $334.2 million interest payments owed to it from it’s financing of Trump International Hotel & Tower.

Trump’s entrepreneurial modus operandi has left him heavily leveraged in property holdings. He has also carried on with new projects while the property market was imploding.