FORMER US president Donald Trump said it is “great to be home” as he arrived in Scotland.
Trump said on Truth Social – the social media platform he owns – that he will be opening a “spectacular” second course at the controversial Menie Estate in the north-east of the country.
He arrived at Aberdeen Airport at about 11.30am and was met by two pipers, a red carpet and a 10-vehicle motorcade.
Trump left the plane and walked to a waiting car, greeting waiting media, but not stopping to take questions.
Before getting into one of the cars, 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 course in Doonbeg on Ireland’s west coast.
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Despite the visit, 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 and 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 for alleged hush money payments made to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump previously visited Scotland in July 2018 while in office.
He spent two days at his Turnberry resort with wife Melania as part of a four-day trip to the UK, during which he met then-prime minister Theresa May and the Queen.
He faced widespread protests and was heckled as he played golf at Turnberry with his son Eric.
Asked last week if he will meet 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.”
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