Donald Trump says ‘great to be in Scotland’ as he arrives for golf trip and talks – latest

Image source, Reuters

A lot more was said, and not said, when Trump addressed reporters at the airport.

Asked about his record on clamping down on illegal immigration, Trump said his advice to Europe is “you better get your act together – or you’re not going to have a Europe anymore”.

He added that windmills are “ruining the country”.

“Stop the windmills, you’re ruining your countries, your beautiful hills and valleys, killing your birds”.

Trump’s anti-windmill position is one that will be familiar to Scots in the northeast.

In 2019, his company Trump International lost a long-running court battle to stop a major wind power development being built in the North Sea off Aberdeen. Trump argued the project, which included 11 wind turbines, would spoil the view from his golf course at Menie.

While in Scotland, Trump will be opening a new golf course – his second in Aberdeen, where one of his sons will be cutting the ribbon to declare it open, he told reporters on the tarmac.

“Sean Connery helped get me the permits – if it weren’t for Sean Connery we wouldn’t have those great courses,” he says – referring to the Scottish actor who he said helped him get planning permission for the courses.

Quizzed on the latest developments with the Epstein files and Ghislaine Maxwell’s interview with the Department of Justice, Trump said he had “really nothing to say about it”.

“A lot of people are asking me about pardons obviously – this is no time to be talking about pardons.”

He said the media is “making a very big thing out of something that’s not a big thing”.