Globe trotters: Trump takes trip to Scotland for new golf course, McCarthy and DeSantis visit Israel
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It’s spring, the perfect time for an international trip. This week, former President Donald Trump traveled to Scotland to check on his properties, while U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited the Israeli prime minister.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrapped up his world tour last week, which also included a stop in Israel, and also took him to Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
Trump arrived in Aberdeen, Scotland, on Monday, for the launch of a new golf course.
He told reporters it was “great to be home” after landing with his son, Eric Trump on a private jet, according to ABC News.
They were greeted by “two pipers, a red carpet and a 10-vehicle motorcade,” per BBC. The former president has a special relationship with Scotland.
Trump’s connections to Scotland
Trump’s mother, Mary, was born on the Isle of Lewis and immigrated to New York City in 1929.
Not only does he have family roots in Scotland, Trump also owns a total of three golf courses there — one in Glasgow and two in Aberdeen, including the newest one.
He will also be visiting Doonbeg, Ireland, where he owns another golf course. Ahead of the visit, Trump posted on Truth Social that he will “see and inspect” his properties, which he touted as “the Greatest in the World.”
“Will be meeting with many wonderful friends, and cutting a ribbon for a new and SPECTACULAR Second Course in Aberdeen,” he said.
This is the former president’s first major trip to Scotland since 2018, but it comes in the middle of Trump’s legal woes.
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Last month, he was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, to which he pleaded not guilty. Trump is also in the middle of a civil trial over allegations of rape, as the Deseret News reported. He has denied the allegations.
McCarthy meets Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel
Trump’s travel plans coincided with McCarthy’s trip to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
McCarthy said that he expected the White House to invite the prime minister to Washington, D.C., because it is customary for U.S. presidents to meet with newly elected Israeli leaders, according to Reuters.
In December, Netanyahu was sworn in to serve as prime minister, after serving previously in that position from 1996 to 1999, and 2009 to 2021.
But Netanyahu, who belongs to a conservative party, has led the country through reforms that have distressed many on the political left — including President Joe Biden, who has expressed concerns about changes Netanyahu wants to make to Israel’s judicial system.
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“As the president recently discussed with ... Netanyahu directly, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” a White House spokesperson previously told Axios.
McCarthy said that if the White House doesn’t invite Netanyahu, then McCarthy will ask the Israeli prime minister “to come meet with the House,” as reported by Israel Hayom.
He also took the opportunity to criticize Biden over the debt ceiling.
“President Biden hasn’t talked to me about the debt ceiling for the last 80 some days so I think he, the prime minister, might be in good company if he treats me the same way,” McCarthy said.
DeSantis wraps world tour amid Trump attacks
The speaker joins many high-profile U.S. politicians who visited Israel recently, including DeSantis, who has been on a world tour ahead of a possible announcement about a bid for the presidency in 2024.
On a trade mission for the Sunshine State, DeSantis traveled to the U.K., South Korea, Japan and Israel.
He wrapped up his tour in London on Friday. But he has caught slack for remarks he made in Israel when he “presented the Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem as his own achievement,” as Axios reported last week.
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Trump was quick to respond. He took to Truth Social and said DeSantis didn’t have any involvement in making that decision.
“DeSanctimonious had nothing to do with Israel or the moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Never so much as mentioned it to me — It was the last thing on his mind,” Trump said over the weekend.
“DeSanctus wasn’t even Governor yet (It was December 6, 2017), and I barely knew him—He has turned out to be a total flameout!” Trump said.
