Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said the British people have taken back their country in the wake of the Brexit vote, which will see Britain sever its ties with the European Union.
Landing in western Scotland in a helicopter to open Turnberry Trump, the billionaires largest Scottish golf resort, the reality TV star said the vote to leave the EU was a great thing.
The GOP firebrand gave a thumbs-up as he left his helicopter and shook hands with workers on his way to the hotel before making the comments, the Press Association reported.
Writing on his Facebook page, Trump has said in a statement that if he became president he would strengthen the ties between an independent Britain and the US.
The people of the United Kingdom have exercised the sacred right of all free peoples. They have declared their independence from the European Union, and have voted to reassert control over their own politics, borders and economy.
A Trump Administration pledges to strengthen our ties with a free and independent Britain, deepening our bonds in commerce, culture and mutual defense. The whole world is more peaceful and stable when our two countries – and our two peoples – are united together, as they will be under a Trump Administration, he wrote.
At the same time as his Facebook post was uploaded Trump tweeted that Scotland was going wild over the Brexit result. However, Scotland, unlike most of the UK overwhelmingly voted to remain within the EU.
Trump has invested £200m ($288m) in the Ayrshire golf resort, but has courted controversy over the property after he said he could withdraw his funds if he was barred from the UK.
MPs debated banning the billionaire from entry into the UK after an online petition, sparked by his comments calling for a ban on all Muslim immigration into the US, gained more than half a million signatories earlier this year.
Trump waded into the UK referendum debate in May. I would personally be more inclined to leave, for a lot of reasons, like having a lot less bureaucracy, he told reporters at the time.
Despite his political comments Trump is understood to be travelling to Scotland in a business capacity. He has not announced any meetings with British politicians, breaking with tradition for a Republican nominee visiting the UK for the first time.
The reality TV star is expected to be met by protesters at the new resort. Earlier this week, hostile local residents living near the golf course raised Mexican flags near their homes, a statement on Trumps position on Mexican immigration to the US and his comments about Latinos.
