Just as Britain votes in the Brexit referendum to decide its future with the European Union, Donald Trump is flying into the U.K., where he is heading to Scotland.
Just as things are heating up between rival Hillary Clinton and Trump, he ups and flies away to Scotland. However, while the timing of the Republican presidential hopeful’s visit and the ongoing Brexit referendum seems uncanny, reportedly the two events are in no way linked, as Trump is heading to Scotland to open his new golf resort.
He did – rather predictably with his views and according to the Telegraph – say if he were British, he would be “inclined to leave” the EU.
Reportedly, Trump will land in Scotland at around the same time the ballots for and against the Brexit are being counted. Trump arrives in Prestwick today and will be heading straight to Turnberry in Ayrshire, where his newly revamped hotel and golf course will reopen in style.
Friday will see the Republican presidential candidate cutting the ribbon at the luxury golf resort where some £200m (around $297m) has been spent on fixing the place up by Trump.
Trump will then head north to Aberdeenshire Saturday to another, smaller golf course opened by him in 2012, where he had to fight a battle to flatten coastal dunes , previously protected for their ecological rarity, and fought against local wind farms so that Trump’s customers can get a better view while on the greens.
This is why some people in Scotland really hate Donald Trump https://t.co/cgox4ITjqY
— TIME.com (@TIME) June 22, 2016
However, while this has all been billed as a business trip, it turns out he has promised to comment on the Brexit referendum. His campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said, “Mr. Trump will be opening Trump Turnberry, one of the finest resorts in the world,” adding the trip will be “very brief.”
But reportedly Hicks went on to say Trump has promised to comment on the referendum while on British shores. Reportedly, the real estate mogul has his own media detail traveling alongside him and will give a press conference Friday, where he will make his remarks.
It was back in May that Trump publicly weighed in on the crucial referendum, saying that he wouldn’t give a formal opinion, but “I would personally be more inclined to leave, for a lot of reasons, like having a lot less bureaucracy.”
Meanwhile, Trump sees his visit to Scotland (the birthplace of his mother) as a chance to showcase his business empire and job-creating abilities. He also hopes to reinforce his ancestral ties to Scotland, his love of family, and how his children play an important role in his business dealings.
Ironically, despite the fact Trump has professed his love for Scotland, his imminent arrival has sparked minor protests in the country. Reportedly, two neighbors to Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course, David Milne and Michael Forbes, have erected Mexican flags on their homes to make a point.
The sad thing is, I’m not sure Trump would even recognise a Mexican flag if he saw it. https://t.co/MiAMve8XNG
— Holly Hearn (@hearningcurve) June 23, 2016
The two men are referring to Trump’s plans to build a wall along the border separating the U.S. and Mexico and how he described Mexican immigrants as “drug dealers” and “rapists.”
As reported by Time , it turns out Forbes, a salmon fisherman, refused to sell his land to Trump and was later labeled “a disgrace” by the presidential hopeful.
Milne, on the other hand, is flying the Mexican flag to show “support and solidarity with the Mexican people and anyone else who has been intimidated by Trump.”
Saying how “horrific” it is that Trump has come so far in the U.S. election, Milne said, “I don’t think very many people want him here.”
“They’ve seen that he’s unacceptable—someone who has been pulled out of the dark ages, basically a prehistoric Neanderthal.”
It seems Trump is not particularly popular in Scotland in general, as last year he lost his status as an honorary ambassador for Scottish business and was also stripped of an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, for his inflammatory comments about Muslims.
This happened following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, where Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
In typical Trump fashion, the Republican presidential candidate responded to the decision by accusing the Scottish government of a “foolish, small-minded, and parochial mentality.”
[Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images]
