US presidential hopeful Donald Trump said the UK's vote to exit the EU is a sign people all over Europe "want to have independence" - apart from in Scotland, where he "can't imagine they would go through that again".
The businessman and Republican presidential candidate opened his newly-refurbished Turnberry golf course in Scotland on the day the UK voted to leave the EU.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the ruling Scottish National Party in the devolved Scottish Parliament, immediately launched a new drive for independence after Scotland voted overwhelmingly to Remain in the EU but were outvoted by the larger population in the rest of the UK.
Read more: Donald Trump says Brexit vote is a 'great thing' for UK
Mr Trump said the last independence referendum in 2014 was "a nasty period" - in contrast to the EU referendum, which he described as "a great thing".
The Turnberry ribbon-cutting ceremony was interrupted by comedian Simon Brodkin, also known as Lee Nelson, attempting to hand out golf balls with a swastika printed on them.
Mr Trump demanded security "get him out" before addressing reporters from around the world who have been following him closely since he was elected to stand against Democrat Hillary Clinton as the presumptive Republican candidate for US president.
Read more: Donald Trump's Turnberry media conference interrupted by Nazi golf ball pranks
He said: "People want to take their country back and they want to have independence, in a sense.
"You see it all over Europe. In my opinion, you're going to have more than just what happened last night.
"You're going to have, I think, many other cases where they want to take their borders back, their monetary (policy) back, take a lot of things back.
"They want to be able to have a country again."
Mr Trump says his strong showing in the polls for the US presidential race is evidence of a similar discontent, particularly over immigration.
"I really do see a parallel between what's happening in the US and what is happening here," he said.
"People want to see borders. They don't necessarily want people pouring into their country that they don't know who they are or where they have come from, they have no idea," he said.
Read more: Donald Trump says Brexit vote is a 'great thing' for UK
Mr Trump, whose mother was born in Scotland, said the issue of Scottish independence is "up to the people of Scotland" but "we've been through this".
"I'll leave it up to the people," he said.
"I love the people of Scotland. That is why I built, in Aberdeen, one of the great golf courses in the world.
"I've gotten to know the people of Scotland so well through my mother and everything else.
"The people of Scotland are amazing people and that question really has to be addressed to the people.
"It was a very, very close vote and I don't know that people want to go through that again.
"I was here when people were going through that vote.
"I didn't take sides but I will tell you it was a nasty period, and I can't imagine they would go through that again but the people of Scotland may speak differently."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel