Scotland's leader says Trump isn't welcome to visit his Turnberry resort because golfing isn't essential travel
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Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday put an end to rumors that President Donald Trump would visit his Turnberry golf resort during President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
Sturgeon said the country's national lockdown, which includes a prohibition on nonessential travel, applied to Trump.
A Scottish newspaper reported on Sunday that a US military plane sometimes used by Trump was scheduled to arrive at an airport near Trump's Turnberry golf resort.
Rumors that President Donald Trump would take refuge at his Scottish golf resort during President-elect Joe Biden's January 20 inauguration were dashed by Scotland's leader on Tuesday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the US president wouldn't be permitted to visit the country, where he has owned a golf resort since 2014, because of its COVID-19 travel restrictions prohibiting nonessential travel. Sturgeon implemented a nationwide lockdown on Monday shortly before UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a national lockdown on England as coronavirus cases surged.
"We are not allowing people to come into Scotland, and that would apply to him just as it applies to anybody else," Sturgeon told Scottish reporters on Tuesday. "And coming in to play golf is not what I would consider to be an essential purpose."
The Sunday Post first reported that Trump may be planning to escape the US later this month. A military plane the president occasionally uses is scheduled to arrive at the Glasgow Prestwick Airport near Trump's resort on January 19, the day before Biden's inauguration, the Scottish newspaper said.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump had "no plans to travel to Scotland" after the White House first declined to comment on The Sunday Post's reporting. Trump planned to visit Turnberry after the 2016 election because he assumed he would lose the race to Hillary Clinton, The New York Times reported, citing former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.
The president, who has refused to concede his election loss, hasn't said whether he'll attend Biden's inauguration or disclosed where he'll go once he's no longer president. NBC News reported Trump was considering announcing a 2024 presidential bid on Inauguration Day, while other outlets have reported that Trump will hold a campaign rally as Biden is sworn in.
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