Donald Trump brands second indyref talk ‘ridiculous’

Donald Trump with his daughter Ivanka at Turnberry yesterday. Picture: PA

DONALD Trump yesterday said it would be “ridiculous” if a second Scottish independence referendum was held, describing last year’s vote as a “bad period” for the country.

Just a few days after Alex Salmond opined that another poll was “inevitable”, Mr Trump said he would be “extremely upset” if that were to happen.

The entrepreneur, with ambitions to become US President, was speaking at a press conference held after his helicopter landed at Turnberry, the South Ayrshire golf resort he bought last year.

Having emerged as the front-runner to be Republican candidate in the race for the White House, Mr Trump also gave an insight into his foreign policy plans, saying he would probably get on well with Vladimir Putin, and added he would beef up America’s military machine “so strong that nobody would mess with us”.

The billionaire celebrity businessman is set to be at the tournament for two days before returning to the campaign trail. Picture: John Devlin

Asked by The Scotsman about Scotland’s constitutional future, Mr Trump said: “I think it is ridiculous to have a second referendum. I would be extremely upset if that was even thought about.

“I had heard it would be 50 years before it would happen again. I don’t know if it would happen again but it was a very bad period for Scotland. It was very divisive and I was here and I was watching.

“I thought that staying together was the better thing. I didn’t want to make my points very clearly on that, because I felt it wasn’t up to me. But I feel the people made the right decision and I can’t imagine they would want to go through that again.”

Mr Trump added: “I was here certain weekends and I saw things I have never seen before here. It was very divisive – I would think they wouldn’t want to go through that again.”

With “Trump Turnberry” hosting the RICOH Women’s British Open this week, Mr Trump held a press conference to talk about the alterations he intends to make to the famous links and its adjoining hotel.

But his status as a candidate in the battle to become the most powerful political leader in the Western World meant he was forced to field questions which were more concerned with politics than pitching wedges.

Mr Trump was faced with a barrage of questions on defence, foreign affairs and his remarks on illegal Mexican immigration, which received widespread condemnation.

The businessman turned politician did not shy away from controversy, saying he would “probably get along very well” with Vladimir Putin if he made it to the White House.

Claiming that Barack Obama and Mr Putin “hated” each other, Mr Trump said he wanted to improve the US’s difficult relations with Russia and China.

“The United States has no relationship with Russia. We drove Russia into the hands of China. They’re now getting along very well. They’re doing deals together,” he said.

“I always said for many years the worst thing that could happen for world peace is if Russia and China ever get together. We, through our incompetent leaders in Washington, drove Russia and China together.”

China, according to Mr Trump, “should love us” because of the money it is making selling goods to Americans.

The international media circus which followed Mr Trump to one of the ballrooms in the Turnberry Hotel realised fears that his presence at the tournament would overshadow the play on the course.

The fall-out from the would-be president’s views on Mexican immigration hung over the press conference.

Mr Trump, however, was entirely unapologetic for suggesting that the Mexican government was sending drug pushers and rapists into America.

He pointed to a recent poll that showed he was the most popular Republican candidate among the US Hispanic population.