A U.S. businessman behind plans to "build a world-class golf course on protected sand dunes in the Highlands has hit out at conservationists campaigning to halt the scheme" for likening him to U.S. President Donald Trump and "whipping up hatred of Americans," according to Ilona Amos of the SCOTSMAN. Todd Warnock "hails from Michigan" but now lives in Dornoch, Sutherland. He owns three businesses in the town and "is now part of a team aiming to create an 18-hole championship golf course at nearby Coul Links, outside Embo." The proposal "has won backing from some locals but has sparked fierce opposition from environmental groups." The environmental groups insist building a course at Coul Links will destroy one of Scotland’s "last areas of pristine dune habitat and harm rare birds, plants and insects." Warnock claimed he and his American partners, including billionaire golf mogul Mike Keiser, "are being held up" as "peas in a pod" with Trump, who has caused "huge controversy" in Scotland over his golf resort in Aberdeenshire "and worldwide due to his stance on immigrants and the environment." Warnock stressed that he has "never worked with, supported or agreed with" Trump. Conservationists "have denied the accusations" (SCOTSMAN, 12/19).
