Claim:
Social media posts accurately report the history of Molly Forbes, who at the age of 92 declined to sell his farm in Aberdeshire, Scotland, to US President Donald Trump to build a golf course.
Evaluation:
Rate: Mix
What is true:
In 2006, Donald Trump bought the mansion of the mannie north of Aberdeen, Scotland. His plans to develop the area included the purchase of the land of loved ones, including Molly Forbes and her son Michael Forbes. Forbeses and others refused to sell their property and fought the Trump organization in several legal disputes. In 2010, Trump’s workers cut the water to Forbeses’s property, breaking a pipe leading to their house, and avoiding completely repairing it. In 2016, after living without a reliable source of water for six years, Michael Forbes corrected the pipe, which is in the property of Trump. Molly Forbes died in 2021 at the age of 96.
What is false:
The Forbeses history is well documented in the British press through a pair of documentaries directed by journalist Anthony Baxter, but these documentaries do not contain frames showing the Trump organization, which puts 24/7 spotlights around the house or cutting force in the Forbeses property. In addition, Molly Forbes’ necrologist at the BBC notes that Michael Forbes, not Molly Forbes, owns the property.
What is uncertain:
It is not clear how strong and common the surrounding construction works were – documentaries contain many construction staff, but it is not clear if the machines really work “during the day and night and weekends”.
In 2006, much about the grief of some residents nearby, a business tycoon and future US President Donald Trump bought the Menie mansion a few miles north of Aberdeen, Scotland. Trump plans to develop the mansion, some of which sits on sand dunes overlooking the North Sea by building two golf courses, a hotel and other luxury amenities.
In 2025, the publications appeared on Facebook pages at about the same time as Trump returned to his Aberdeenshire resort to open the second of these two golf courses. The publications are assumed to tell the story of Molly Forbes, “A small fragile 92-year-old Scottish widow,” which refused to sell his neighboring country house to Trump, which seemed to be avenged by ordering “Strongly Machines to work during the day and night and weekends, ” Shining spotlights on her property during all hours of the day and cutting both power and water to the Forbes residence. But despite the avenging measures, according to the positions, Forbes has never sold, “exactly until his death four years later, at the age of 96.”
https://www.facebook.com/theother98/posts/pfbid025udslvdfpwuh68zvwkiqaupmrbztudyxbhabzcgvyehbds4sdpmczm85r4l
Snops discovered that history is a mix of true and false information. The British press has announced widely about events, and journalist Anthony Baxter has made numerous documentaries that describe the situation in detail. However, while the posts were based on real events, there was no evidence to support some of their claims.
When Trump bought the mansion in 2006, his plans included the purchase of some of the neighboring residents, including Michael Forbes. (Forbes’ mother, Molly Forbes, lived in her property). But Forbeses and several other neighbors refused to sell. Among other things, they were concerned that the golf course would harm the ecosystem of the sand dunes that were considered a Site with a special scientific interest from the Scottish government.
An The Aberdeenshire Council Committee initially denied the Trump Golf Course plan, but the Government of Scotland intervened and approved in 2008 on the grounds that the economic benefits exceed the environmental harm. Trump’s team then strengthened their attempts to make neighbors sell.
Trump has been reported to ask Aberdeshire’s Council to consider a “compulsory purchase” on Earth, which allows some entities to buy land without the owner agree to sell as long as the purchase is considered in the public interest. According to the BBC, Molly Forbes took legal action against Trump to stop such a purchase, which made the future president call the property “recruited” and “pigs”. (Guardian announced that no compulsory purchase orders were issued in the end).
In 2010, Michael and Molly’s water was excluded after the workers who were building a golf course broke a pipe. Baxter, who worked on his first movie about the situation, went to the golf course and informs the grounding man who admitted that the workers had broken the pipe. Later on the same day, Baxter and his producer were arrested on charges of “Peace Violation”. (The shots caused protest and the fees were dropped.)
However, the problems with Forbeses water continued as the broken pipe was on the ground of Trump and the resort never completely fixed it. According to The Guardian, Molly Forbes has been without a reliable source of water for more than five years, during which time relying on buckets of well nearby and bottled water. In 2016, Michael Forbes repaired the pipe itself.
The first of the two golf courses opened in 2012 and the second is scheduled to open in August 2025, according to the New York Times. The Scottish government deleted the dunes as a place with a special scientific interest in 2020 due to construction. Michael Forbes has Has no intention of selling his farmAnd Molly Forbes died at the age of 96 in 2021.
In short, the story of Molly Forbes is true, though exaggerated.
Molly Forbes did not own the country house – it was her son – but Forbeses refused to sell Trump’s property. In 2010, the workers broke the Forbeses water main, which remained broken for more than five years.
However, the other aspects of the stories were not true. Snops reviewed both Baxter’s two documentaries on “You were trump” and “You were left.” Nor did it contain footage showing 24 -hour spotlights or neighbors that are reduced. (The most early reference to the floodlights that Snops could find was from an article from 2016 in Telegraph.)
Finally, it is not clear how intrusive the construction schedule is. Documentary films show significant construction works (in fact, one scene shows that Trump workers building earth mounds to block the view of nearby houses from the golf course). However, whether this construction has passed “during the day and night and weekends”, as claimed by social media publications, is unknown.
Sources:
Baxter, Anthony. “Donald Trump is struggling to block the release of my movie for years. Now he has failed.” The Guardian, July 16, 2020 The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/16/donald-trump-touve-been-too.
—. “Molly Forbes Necrologist.” The Guardian, May 5, 2021 The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/05/molly-forbes-obitown.
BBC. “The Trump golf course is losing special environmental status.” BBC, December 9, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-steland-55244660.
BBC Audio | Trump | Episode 8 – epilogue. https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0hmls55. Access to 31 July 2025
Carrell, Severin and Scotland correspondent. “Donald Trump issues a violent statement against the opponent of the golf course.” The Guardian, November 24, 2009 Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/24/donald-trump-golf-course-ponent.
—. “Plans for Donald Trump’s Golf Resort hit the rough after the mass purchase of land.” The Guardian, May 26, 2010 Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/26/donald-trump-resort-cotland.
—. “The creator of the film investigating Donald Trump resort wins an excuse for arrest.” The Guardian, December 13, 2011 Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/13/filmmaker-apology-rrest-trump-resort.
—. “The makers of films arrested on the spot at Donald Trump’s Scottish Golf Resort.” The Guardian, September 12, 2010 The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/SEP/12/film-makers-ryted-donald-trump-cottish-resort.
Required Purchase Orders: Introduction. July 21, 2025, https://www.gov.scot/publications/compulsory-mases-orders-introduction/.
Donald Trump: Molly Forbes, who faced the golf plans, died on April 96, 2021 www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-cotland-east-orkney-steland-5683744444444.
Esposito, Joey. “Trump’s Scottish Golf Course did not increase security because of men who give up holes.” Snopes, May 14, 2025, https://www.snopes.com//face-check/trump-cecity-golf-course-cotland/.
Horton, Elena. “The 92-year-old Scottish widow takes over Donald Trump.” The Telegraph, October 27, 2016, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/the-92-year-old Scottish-widow-on-donald-trump/.
Scotland was “attached” by Donald Trump, says the former assistant. March 29, 2024 www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-cotland-68069245.
“Trump has won approval for controversial plans for golf courses of $ 2.4 billion.” The Sydney Morning Herald, November 4, 2008, https://www.smh.com.au/world/trump-wins-Approval-for-controversial-2-4b-golf-course-plans-plans-20081104-GDT
Yamamoto, Jen. “Meet a 92-year-old woman whose life was ruined by Donald Trump.” The Daily Beast, October 26, 2016, https://www.thedailybeast.com/meet-A-92-year-old-woman-ch-life-life-was-ruined-by-donald-trump/.