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You've Been Trumped Too

Astute and damning documentary that charts Donald Trump's path of destruction
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You've Been Trumped Too

Astute and damning documentary that charts Donald Trump's path of destruction

Five years after his documentary You've Been Trumped saw a group of Scottish residents take on Donald Trump as he attempted to build a luxury golf course over their homes, filmmaker Anthony Baxter returns to follow up the story. With the fact that Trump is now an inflammatory presidential candidate lending increased clout to proceedings, the result is unsurprisingly sickening.

Baxter's initial focus is on 92-year-old Molly Forbes, who was left without a water supply for half a decade after Trump's construction workers destroyed an essential pipe. This David and Goliath tale has immediate emotional impact, as we see how The Trump Organization – spearheaded by the shifty, gurning Donald Trump Jr – not only ignore this plight, but insults and harasses the Forbes family. It's when Baxter widens his focus to draw parallels between Trump's Scottish land-grab and a presidential campaign that is similarly driven by lies, aggression and grandiose audacity, that it's clear just what a dangerous force the eponymous businessman is.

Of course, Baxter may be preaching to the converted when it comes to the likely audience for his film, who will be depressed to see the level of evangelical grassroots support Trump has in middle America – followers who treat his every hate-filled utterance with whoops of delight. More heartening, however, are the handful of people who have their eyes opened when Baxter explains to them Trump's behaviour in Scotland – promises of economic support, jobs and environmental diligence that have gone unmet. One pin-wearing woman, speaking to Baxter in front of the White House, is so shocked that she promises to change her vote.

While the film may not tell us anything new about Trump's appalling attitude to basic human rights, it is a sharp reminder of just how easy it is for anybody with money and influence to hoodwink and seduce those who are desperate for any kind of change. As a portrait of a man, it's ugly; as an insight into modern politics, it's both astute and damning.

Selected release from Fri 4 Nov.

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