The Donald Wins! The Donald Wins!

Andrew Hough reports on the stunning turnaround in Scotland where the chairman was also ousted for having voted down The Donald's links course and housing development.

Aberdeenshire Council also dumped the committee chairman, councillor Martin Ford, who had used his casting vote to break a 7-7 impasse that threatened to scupper the plans on environmental grounds.

The Scottish government said last week it was intervening because the project to build two championship golf courses, around 1,000 homes, a luxury hotel and 36 villas on a pristine stretch of northeast coastline, was too "important" to be dealt with by the local council.

Trump said he was very pleased by the decision.

"It's unprecedented what happened," he told Reuters by telephone from his office in New York. "The people of Aberdeenshire so loved the project that the council voted for it, unanimously."

And...

He said Ford was removed as chairman of the council's infrastructure and services committee at the emergency meeting after a vote of no confidence was supported 26-10, with 29 councillors abstaining.

A Scottish government spokesman said the move would not affect the review as ministers would make the final decision.

Neil Hobday, director of the Trump project, said the group felt vindicated by the council's action.

"For us it is a validation or affirmation and it (the decision) did not surprise us as we have support of the people of this region and I think the politicians who are representing them listened," he said.

Ford could not be reached for comment. But at the time of the decision he defended his vote against Trump, saying the risk to the local environment was "too high a price to pay".