Donald Trump claims Sean Connery accelerated the president's 'big Scotland development' in his tribute to the former Bond actor

President Donald Trump said Sir Sean Connery helped him win planning approval for a ‘big development' in Scotland in a tribute he paid to the Scottish former Bond actor.

Mr Trump posted his tribute on Twitter on Sunday morning, the day after news came of the Holywood star dying aged 90.

In his message he claimed Sir Sean said, “let him build the damn thing” when the president was trying to push though planning permission for a large-scale project in Scotland.

His full tribute to the Bond star said: “The legendary actor, 007 Sean Connery, has past on to even greener fairways. He was quite a guy, and a tough character. I was having a very hard time getting approvals for a big development in Scotland when Sean stepped in and shouted, ‘let him build the damn thing.’

"That was all I needed, everything went swimmingly from there. He was so highly regarded & respected in Scotland and beyond that years of future turmoil was avoided. Sean was a great actor and an even greater man. Sincere condolences to his family.”

Tributes flooded in after news of the award-winning actors death on Saturday.

Among those were former First Minister Alex Salmond, a close ally of the SNP-supporting actor, who sung his praises.

Donald Trump at the home of where his mother grew up on the Isle of Lewis and a photo of the late Bond actor Sean Connery picture: supplied

In a tweet Mr Salmond posted: “The world’s greatest Scot, the last of the real Hollywood stars, the definitive Bond.

“Sean Connery was all of these things but much more. He was also a staunch patriot, a deep thinker and outstanding human being.

“I have had the rare privilege of being his friend for more than thirty years and enjoyed every single moment of his company and talk.”

He added: “He was honest and brave and it has been one of the privileges of my life to count him as a friend.

“His sense of irony and humour were legendary as was his love of country.

“‘Scotland Forever’ wasn’t just tattooed on his forearm but was imprinted on his soul.”

Sir Sean’s widow, Micheline, has since paid tribute to her late husband.

In an emotional interview with the Daily Mail she described him as her “model of a man” and said how the Oscar-winning actor’s dementia diagnosis “took it’s toll on him.”

The 91-year-old Moroccan-French painter, who married Sir Sean in 1975, said: “At least he died in his sleep and it was just so peaceful. I was with him all the time and he just slipped away. It was what he wanted.

"He had dementia and it took its toll on him. He got his final wish to slip away without any fuss.”

Micheline added: “He was gorgeous and we had a wonderful life together. He was a model of a man. It is going to be very hard without him, I know that. But it could not last forever and he went peacefully.”

Sir Sean died “peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family” at home in the Bahamas on Saturday.

His acting career, which spread over five decades, saw him win an Oscar, two Baftas and three Golden Globes.

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