Presidential hopeful Donald Trump said it is a "great thing" that the people of the UK have "taken back their country" in voting to leave the EU, as he touched down at his golf resort in Scotland.
Read more: Britain votes to leave European Union despite Scotland wanting to Remain
The billionaire arrived in his "Trump" emblazoned helicopter at the Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire to officially open the revamped resort he bought in 2014, just an hour after Prime Minister David Cameron said he intended to stand down in October.
He gave a thumbs-up as he left his helicopter and shook hands with workers on his way to the hotel before making the comments about the EU referendum result.
Read more: JK Rowling - Scotland will see independence after Brexit
Asked why people voted for Brexit, he said: "People are angry. All over the world they're angry."
He added: "We're doing very well in the United States and essentially the same thing has happened in the United States. They are angry over borders, they are angry over people coming into the country."
The US entrepreneur also said that he expected other countries to follow suit and claimed that if Barack Obama had not asked the UK to stay in the EU the outcome of the referendum could have been different.
He said: "It shows something about people wanting their country back and I can tell you, in the US, the people want their country back and ant smart decisions, not dumb decisions and we have been given dumb decisions for many years."
Trump had arrived at the upmarket golf resort for its official opening following a £200 million revamp.
At 2am he had tweeted to his 9.26 million followers: “Congratulations to my son, Eric, on the fantastic job he has done in rebuilding Turnberry, and its great Ailsa Course. Always support kids!”
Trump's son Eric, who with his brother Don Jr and sister Ivanka oversees the Trump Organisation’s golf, resort, and hotel attractions, tweeted excitedly at around the same time: "En route to the grand opening of @TrumpTurnberry with @realDonaldTrump! Can't wait for him to see the end result!”
Security at Turnberry was very tight this morning, with members of the media being frisked by security personnel using metal-detector wands, who also searched their belongings and equipment.
Trump’s visit to Turnberry was snubbed by all the main Scottish party leaders.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who had terminated Mr Trump’s role as an international trade ambassador for Scotland after he called for the “shutdown” of Muslims entering the US, has described his views on Muslims as “really abhorrent”.
She added that she “hoped the good sense of the people of America will prevail”.
Hundreds of protestors were expected to surround the hotel in response to the Republican presidential nominee’s visit. Reports said a small plane trailing a banner reading ‘Love Trumps Hate’ would greet his arrival.
Keir McKechnie, spokesperson for Stand Up to Racism Scotland, which was organising a demonstration outside Turnberry, said yesterday: “Trump is not welcome in Scotland and his racist toxic poison is not welcome.
“His message of hate is one that we’ll challenge - and we would not encourage anyone to support him in his presidency.
“We would certainly expect a few hundred people will want to show Trump that he is not welcome in Scotland when he visits.
“There will be trade union bodies, student union groups, mosques, local communities and people in Dumfries and Galloway. We want it to reflect a broad selection of Scottish society.”
Jonathan Shafi of Scotland Against Trump, which organised coaches to take protesters to the hotel, told the BBC: "We'll be organising a protest which will reflect the broad opinion of Scots that his values are incompatible with ours."
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