I won't ban Scottish Muslims in US, says Trump

Donald Trump has said his ban on Muslims entering the United States would not apply to Muslims from Scotland.

Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Links at Menie yesterday. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty

During a visit to his golf course in Aberdeenshire yesterday, the US presidential candidate was asked to clarify his position. In the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting, he said he would impose such a ban on Muslims coming from countries linked to Islamic terrorism.

Asked whether a Muslim from Scotland would be allowed to enter the US, he said: “It wouldn’t bother me.”

He added: “I don’t want people coming in from certain countries. I don’t want people coming in from the terror countries.

“You have terror countries, I don’t want them, unless they’re very, very strongly vetted.”

Trump also condemned his main rival Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama for wrongly calling the result of Thursday’s European referendum.

He said: “Hillary Clinton – or crooked Hillary Clinton as I call her – and Barack Obama called it totally wrong. They call everything wrong.”

The billionaire businessman said Obama’s intervention had been a “bad signal” to the UK.

Trump added: “We live in a very precarious world in a very precarious time. The US has real, real problems but Brexit is not one of those problems

“You want to respect the fact that people wanted their independence, they wanted to have their country back. Barack Obama said it would never happen. He said if it did happen the UK would go the back of the queue. That was a very bad signal to the UK.”

The helicopter carrying Trump and his family landed next the fairway for the 10th hole on his links at Menie as part of his one-night trip to Scotland.

Last night, he was due to have a private dinner with Rupert Murdoch and his wife Jerry Hall before flying back to New York.

In a roving press conference over the 13th, 14th and 18th tees of the links course, Trump fielded questions from about 100 journalists and photographers who followed him in golf carts,

Trump, who got in a public spat with former First Minister Alex Salmond over the construction of a wind farm off the coast, also denied that a visit to the newly renovated resort had been snubbed by Nicola Sturgeon.

He added: “I really don’t know, I’ve never met her. I’m sure she’s very nice, it’s just I’ve never met her.

“No I haven’t asked to meet with her.”

Several Mexican flags now dot the boundary of the Menie course after three disgruntled neighbours of the site raised them in protest at Trump’s arrival.

A small protest of flag-wavers was also allowed onto the golf course site under permission from Police Scotland.

Trump said he had not seen the flags since he arrived.

“Turnberry was a lovefest. Here, most neighbours love us. We have one or two people here and it was contentious but that is because they lost. I get that. It’s like some of the people I beat in the primaries,” he said.

Trump added: “We have huge popularity here.”

Susan and John Munro, said they put up a Mexican flag yesterday morning to coincide with Trump’s arrival. Their former access route to the beach at Menie is now blocked by a gate.

Last night, Munro said the flag was put up in solidarity with the Mexican people after Trump said he would build a wall on the border between the US and Mexico.

Munro said: “We wanted to show Trump what it’s like to live behind a wall.”