Donald Trump said it is “great to be home” as he arrived in Scotland. The former US president said on Truth Social – the social media platform he owns – that he is going to the Menie Estate near Aberdeen to open a “spectacular” second golf course.
He and his son Eric arrived at Aberdeen Airport at about 11.30am and were met by two pipers, a red carpet and a 10-vehicle motorcade. Before getting into one of the cars, Mr Trump said: “It’s great to be home, this was the home of my mother.”
His mother, Mary, was born on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides before emigrating to the US. Following his time in Scotland, he will head to his golf course in Doonbeg on Ireland’s west coast.
Despite the visit, Mr Trump, who is running for the White House again in 2024 and is seen by many as the presumptive Republican nominee, said his campaign is “on my mind”, stressing that a victory for him would make America “greater than ever before”.
“Will be leaving for Scotland & Ireland soon in order to see and inspect my great properties there,” he wrote. “The golf courses and hotels are among the greatest in the world – Turnberry and Aberdeen, in Scotland, and Doonbeg, in Ireland.
“Will be meeting with many wonderful friends, and cutting a ribbon for a new and spectacular second course in Aberdeen. “Very exciting despite the fact that it is ‘make America great again’ that is on my mind, in fact, America will be greater than ever before.”
The tycoon’s trip to Scotland comes as he faces legal trouble in his native New York over his business practices. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to hide damaging information ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Mr Trump had previously spent two days at his Turnberry course while in office in 2018, meeting Theresa May and the Queen during the visit.
Asked last week if he will meet Mr Trump, who has made controversial statements about Muslims in the past, First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “I would find it difficult, I have to say, to meet with him without raising the significance of concerns I have of the remarks that he’s made in the past.”
