Trump organisation brands Zack Polanski an 'imbecile' after call to seize US president's Scottish golf courses
Greens leader Zack Polanski suggested the Scottish government could remove and repurpose Trump’s golf courses for community use
Zack Polanski has been branded an “imbecile” by a spokesperson for Donald Trump’s Scottish business interests after the Green Party leader said his golf courses should be taken into community ownership.
Mr Polanski was speaking in Glasgow as part of a campaign tour in support of the Scottish Greens ahead of the Holyrood election on May 7.
The US president is a regular visitor to his luxury golf courses in Aberdeenshire and North Ayrshire, which form part of the local economy.
However, Mr Polanski was heavily critical of Mr Trump’s influence over the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and his actions in the Middle East.
He said: “I’d really like to see Donald Trump kicked out of his golf courses.
“I don’t think you should be able to start illegal and unpopular wars and still have golf courses and actually, I’d love to see those golf courses brought into community ownership.
“It seems outrageous that Donald Trump is still able to enjoy those golf courses.”
The Green leader was asked to clarify how the US president might legally be separated from his assets.
In response he said: “I think more problematic is a genocide in Gaza and killing innocent people in Lebanon and in Iran.
“We talked for a long time about sanctions that the UK government should be putting on Israel, but frankly, I think there's places where we should be sanctioning Donald Trump, where it's possible, and I think very likely, he's committing war crimes.
“I think removing him from the golf course feels like the very least we could do.”
Sarah Malone, Executive Vice President, Trump International, Scotland, said: “The comments in relation to our golf courses in Scotland are frankly ludicrous and ignorant and made by a man who is an imbecile.”
Mr Polanski also said the UK has obligations as a member state signed to the Geneva Convention to take action against those who commit genocide.
Mr Polansk also heavily criticised the UK health secretary Wes Streeting for recent comments on Scottish independence, saying: “Who the hell does he think he is?”
Mr Streeting recently told a broadcaster “they’re not having one” in response to a question about whether Scotland should be entitled to a second vote.
“The way that he spoke about Scotland recently was as if Westminster owns Scotland, as if you need to bring out your begging bowl and ask for permission,” Mr Polanksi said.
Should the May 7 election return a pro-independence majority, Mr Polanski added, and the request is denied “that is outrageous. It's undemocratic, but also, it reveals the real, quite frankly sinister attitude that this Labour Westminster Government has had towards Scotland and the people of Scotland.”
On the question of the mechanism to secure a second independence referendum, Mr Polanksi said it was not his place to advise Scotland’s First Minister what to do.
He said Westminster should “recognise the democratic will of the Scottish people.”
The Greens leader said the independence movement around the UK - citing Wales also - is “unstoppable”.
“It gets to the point where I can't see why a UK Prime Minister would want to keep a country in a union who had demonstrated so clearly with votes that they didn't want to be in that union anymore.
“It almost becomes embarrassing. It's like having a house party and your guests tell you they really don't want to be there, but you've locked the door.
And so ultimately, we need to make sure that the people have keys to their own front door and they're able to make the decisions they want to.”
He went on, however, to add that he is “really fond” of Scotland and would wish to maintain strong ties north and south of the border.
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