US presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will visit Britain for the opening of his Scottish golf resort on June 24th – the day after Britain holds a referendum on its membership of the European Union.
It will be his first trip to the UK since a spat with prime minister David Cameron over comments he made about Muslims.
A spokeswoman for Mr Trump would not say whether the Republican president candidate would visit Ireland on his way to Scotland, and that he would release his travel schedule closer to the time.
She said that she had no comment on the Taoiseach’s recent remarks in the Dáil that Mr Trump’s views on immigration were “racist and dangerous”.
Relations between Mr Cameron and Mr Trump have been tense since the British leader called his proposed ban on Muslims entering the US dangerous and stupid.
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Mr Trump’s idea for a boycott of Muslims, mooted last December, also led to calls from some politicians for him to be banned from Britain, with almost 600,000 people signing an online petition to keep him out.
While Mr Cameron and his ministers rejected that call, the prime minister did suggest that Mr Trump would unite the nation against him if he visited Britain.
Mr Trump responded by saying he was unlikely to have a good relationship with Mr Cameron, although both men have since tempered their language after Mr Trump effectively became the presumptive Republican Party nominee.
Mr Cameron has said he would be happy to meet him, although no date had been fixed, and Mr Trump said they could have a good relationship after all.
A spokesman for Mr Cameron said there were no firm plans for a meeting, although it was a long-standing practice for a prime minister to meet presidential nominees if they visited Britain.
Mr Trump’s visit will coincide with the result of Britain’s EU referendum, and while Mr Cameron is leading the campaign for Britain to stay in the bloc, Mr Trump has said he thinks Britons would be better off outside.
In a statement, Mr Trump made no mention of any potential Mr Cameron meeting, saying only that his visit to Britain was for the official opening of his golf resort at Turnberry following a £200 million (€257.6m) refurbishment.
A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization said the date of the opening had been planned long in advance and that it was just a coincidence it came the day after the EU vote. The date would not be changed, she added.
The golf course has pitted Mr Trump against British politicians after Scotland’s devolved government approved plans for an offshore wind farm nearby which led Mr Trump to denounce Scottish ministers as “foolish, small minded and parochial”.
Reuters