Trump’s war on windmills started in Scotland. Now he’s taking it global

President's opposition to offshore wind more than a decade ago now threatens a huge industry in the US and beyond

Donald Trump's bitter dislike of renewable energy first erupted publicly 14 years ago in a seemingly trivial spat over wind turbines visible from his Scottish golf course. As Trump returns to Scotland this week, though, he is using the US presidency to squash clean power, with major ramifications for the climate crisis and America's place in the world.

Trump will visit his Turnberry and Aberdeenshire golf courses during the Scottish trip, the latter venue being the stage of a lengthy battle by the president to halt 11 nearby offshore wind turbines. From 2011, Trump, then a reality TV star and property mogul, argued the ugly" turbines visible from the Menie golf course were monstrosities" that would help sink Scotland's tourism industry.