Speculation is mounting that US President Donald Trump could be planning to snub the inauguration of successor Joe Biden - by flying to Scotland.
President Trump has made no secret of his disdain for his election loss, and continues to dispute the result which saw his Democratic challenger elected to the White House by a record margin of votes.
Now Prestwick Airport has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft which has been occasionally used by Trump, on January 19 – the day before Mr Biden takes over.
This chimes with reports in the US that Trump will announce a 2024 re-election bid during a flight on one of the President’s official Air Force One planes on inauguration day.
Veteran NBC reporter Ken Dilanian tweeted: “Trump may announce for 2024 on inauguration day. Either way, he won’t attend the inauguration and does not plan to invite Biden to the White House or even call him.”
A Previous Trump trip to Turnberry
Every plane Trump flies in has a special call sign, including his own personal Boeing 757, which has the call sign Tyson 1.
Air traffic controllers receive details of the arrival of a plane with a US special call sign weeks in advance but are not told exactly which plane when the booking is made.
READ MORE: When is Inauguration Day 2021 and how can I watch Joe Biden being sworn in?
A source at Prestwick airport, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Sunday Post: “There is a booking for an American military version of the Boeing 757 on January 19, the day before the inauguration.
“That’s one that’s normally used by the Vice-President but often used by the First Lady. Presidential flights tend to get booked far in advance, because of the work that has to be done around it.”
The outgoing President has links to Prestwick as the owner of the nearby Trump Turnberry golf resort.
Few would be surprised if the former tycoon took to the links to escape coverage of Mr Biden being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. It is estimated that Trump has played golf on at least 142 occasions since he was elected.
Mr Trump is a keen golfer
If Trump does fly to Scotland he could be in breach of coronavirus restrictions. Trump Turnberry is effectively closed until February 5 due to Tier 4 rules, according to the resort’s website.
Soon-to-be private citizen Trump has other ties to Scotland – with his mother, Mary, hailing from the island of Lewis. He also owns another golf course in Aberdeenshire.
The US Department of State – America’s equivalent of the Foreign Office – said it was for the White House to comment. The White House did not respond to the Sunday Post.
READ MORE: Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump ally, congratulates Joe Biden on presidential win
The Scottish Government said the UK Government’s Foreign Office is responsible for planning Presidential visits. Transport Scotland said: “This is an operational matter for the airport itself”.
Prestwick airport and the Foreign Office did not comment.
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