.icoVid{background:url(http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/SITEWIDE/Icons/iVideo.gif) no-repeat center;padding-left:14px;text-decoration:none;position:static;} .icoVid:hover,.icoVid:visited:hover{text-decoration:none} .icoSli{background:url(http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/SITEWIDE/Icons/iSlides.gif) no-repeat center;padding-left:14px;text-decoration:none;position:static;} .icoSli:hover,.icoSli:visited:hover{text-decoration:none} .icoDis{background:url(http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/SITEWIDE/Icons/iDiscuss.gif) no-repeat center;padding-left:14px;text-decoration:none;position:static;} .icoDis:hover,.icoDis:visited:hover{text-decoration:none} .icoNew{background:url(http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/SITEWIDE/Icons/flag_new.gif) no-repeat center;padding-left:23px;text-decoration:none;position:static;} .icoNew:hover,.icoNew:visited:hover{text-decoration:none} .icoUpd{background:url(http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/SITEWIDE/Icons/flag_updated.gif) no-repeat center;padding-left:40px;text-decoration:none;position:static;} .icoUpd:hover,.icoUpd:visited:hover{text-decoration:none;} Skip navigation .

Ex-publisher sues Trump

Former Chicago Sun-Times publisher F. David Radler, who testified against his former boss Conrad Black in the trial stemming from the alleged looting of the company, is suing Donald Trump for refusing to sell Radler a condo in the new Trump International Hotel & Tower at a discount.

Trump has made us look like a nation of parochial bumblers

This episode sends a message to every wideboy property developer that the Scots are so weak and befuddled, that you can run rings round them. That you can walk into the office of any top civil servant and browbeat them into getting what you want.

As I say, I intend no slur against the integrity of Jim McKinnon, an innocent bystander here. But the Scottish political classes as a whole have shown themselves to be out of their depth when dealing with difficult people like Trump. It was not unreasonable to expect him at least to negotiate over the Site of Special Scientific Interest that he intended to defile with his golf links. Maybe in the end, the development is worth the damage to the environment. Almost certainly a compromise could have been reached over the sand dunes in question.