Donald Trump has said it is a “great thing” that Britons have “taken back their country” in voting to leave the EU.
The presumptive Republican nominee’s comments came as he arrived at Trump Turnberry in Scotland for the reopening of the refurbished Open venue golf resort.
Donald Trump added his name to the Ayrshire hotel and golf course after buying the resort for an undisclosed fee in 2014.
Comedian Simon Brodkin later disrupted Donald Trump’s news conference by waving golf balls with a swastika on them.
Donald Trump was also the subject of a small protest by those who accuse him of “racism and bigotry” during his bid for the presidency.
Dozens of people, with placards stating “No To Racism”, gathered outside the resort before Donald Trump arrived.
He was asked about the EU referendum result, which saw Leave beat Remain by 52% to 48%, shortly after he touched down at Turnberry in a helicopter.
Donald Trump said: “I think it’s a great thing that’s happened. It’s an amazing vote, very historic.
“People are angry all over the world. They’re angry over borders, they’re angry over people coming into the country and taking over and nobody even knows who they are.
“They’re angry about many, many things in the UK, the US and many other places. This will not be the last.”
Donald Trump said UK divisions “will heal” as “it is a great place”, adding: “I said this was going to happen and I think it is a great thing.
“Basically, they took back their country. That’s a great thing.
“I think we’re doing very well in the United States also, and it is essentially the same thing that is happening in the United States.
“I want to support my son who really represented me here in building this great great place (Turnberry).”
When asked his opinion on UK’s PM David Cameron announcing he is to step down as prime minister after the Leave vote, Donald Trump said: “Well, that’s too bad.”
Speaking later at a news conference, Donald Trump acknowledged his family connection with Scotland through his mother Mary MacLeod, who was born in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides.
“She loved Scotland, she would be here a lot,” he said.
“She would come every year with my sister Mary and my sister Elizabeth and they just loved it. Her loyalty to Scotland was incredible.”
Donald Trump said his mother would often visit Turnberry for dinner with friends but she never played golf.
He said it was “an honor” to have taken ownership of the resort, which he acquired from Dubai-based Leisurecorp two years ago, before adding his name to the brand.
Donald Trump owns more than a dozen golf resorts in the US and opened his first in the UK, at the Menie estate in Aberdeenshire, in 2012 after controversy surrounding planning, environmental issues and clashes with local people who refused to move.
Turnberry is one of 10 UK golf courses to host the Open golf championship on a rotational basis.
The tournament has been played there on four occasions, most recently in 2009.
The Open is expected to be played in England in 2020 and at St Andrews in 2021, meaning the earliest it could return to Turnberry would be 2022.
Donald Trump’s news conference was interrupted comedian Simon Brodkin, also known as Lee Nelson, who attempted to hand out golf balls with a swastika on them. He was escorted away by security officials.
UK’s PM David Cameron has announced he will step down by October after Britain voted to leave the EU.
In a statement outside Downing Street, David Cameron said he would attempt to “steady the ship” over the coming weeks and months but that “fresh leadership” was needed.
He had urged Britain to vote Remain but was defeated by 52% to 48% despite London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backing staying in.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed it as the UK’s “independence day”.
The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results.
Photo Getty Images
Flanked by wife Samantha, PM David Cameron said he had informed Queen Elizabeth II of his decision to remain in place for the short term and to then hand over to a new prime minister by the time of the Conservative conference in October.
It would be for the new prime minister to carry out negotiations with the EU and invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give the UK two years to negotiate its withdrawal, David Cameron said.
“The British people have voted to leave the European Union and their will must be respected,” he said.
“The will of the British people is an instruction that must be delivered.”
The Brexit referendum turnout was 71.8% – with more than 30 million people voting – the highest turnout at a UK-wide vote since 1992.
Britain is set to be the first country to leave the EU since its formation – but the Leave vote does not immediately mean Britain ceases to be a member of the 28-nation bloc.
That process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 – the date of the next scheduled general election.
Once Article 50 has been triggered a country cannot rejoin without the consent of all member states.
The UK’s government will also have to negotiate its future trading relationship with the EU and fix trade deals with non-EU countries.
The UK voted to leave the European Union with 52% to 48% despite London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backing staying in.
The Brexit referendum turnout was 71.8% – with more than 30 million people voting – the highest turnout at a UK-wide vote since 1992.
Nigel Farage – who has campaigned for the past 20 years for Britain to leave the EU – told cheering supporters “this will be a victory for ordinary people, for decent people”.
Germany’s foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier described the referendum result as “a sad day for Europe and Great Britain”.
Leave supporting Tory MP Liam Fox said voters had shown great “courage” by deciding to “change the course of history” for the UK and, he hoped, the rest of Europe.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the EU vote “makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union” after all 32 local authority areas returned majorities for Remain.
Britain is set to be the first country to leave the EU since its formation – but the Leave vote does not immediately mean Britain ceases to be a member of the 28-nation bloc.
That process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 – the date of the next scheduled general election.
Once Article 50 has been triggered a country cannot rejoin without the consent of all member states.
UK’s PM David Cameron previously said he would trigger Article 50 as soon as possible after a Leave vote but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove who led the campaign to get Britain out of the EU have said he should not rush into it.
They also said they want to make immediate changes before the UK actually leaves the EU, such as curbing the power of EU judges and limiting the free movement of workers, potentially in breach the UK’s treaty obligations.
The UK’s government will also have to negotiate its future trading relationship with the EU and fix trade deals with non-EU countries.
In Whitehall and Westminster, there will now begin the massive task of unstitching the UK from more than 40 years of EU law, deciding which directives and regulations to keep, amend or ditch.
The Leave campaign argued during a bitter four-month referendum campaign that the only way Britain could “take back control” of its own affairs would be to leave the EU.
Leave dismissed warnings from economists and international bodies about the economic impact of Brexit as “scaremongering” by a self-serving elite.
Polls have opened in the UK for a historic referendum on whether the country should remain a member of the European Union or leave.
An estimated 46,499,537 people are entitled to take part in the vote.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 BST and will close at 22:00 BST.
It is only the third nationwide referendum in UK history and comes after a four-month battle for votes between the Leave and Remain campaigns.
The referendum ballot paper asks the following question: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”
Whichever side gets more than half of all votes cast is considered to have won.
After the referendum polls close, sealed ballot boxes will be collected and transported to the count venue for each of the 382 local counting areas.
These represent all 380 local government areas in England, Scotland and Wales, plus one each for Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
Individual areas’ results will then be declared throughout the night, along with results from 11 regional counts.
Depending on how close the poll is, the result may become clear before the final national result is officially declared by the Chief Counting Officer, who will be based at Manchester Town Hall.
The Electoral Commission estimates a final result “around breakfast time” on June 24.
In a recent interview, Donald Trump has said the UK would be “better off without” the European Union.
The Republican presidential hopeful told Fox News the migration crisis had been a “horrible thing for Europe” and blamed the EU for driving it.
Donald Trump said he was not making a “recommendation” but his “feeling” was that the UK should vote to sever ties with the EU in its June 23 referendum.
Photo Getty Images
When he visited the UK last month, Democratic President Barack Obama expressed support for the UK remaining in the EU.
Donald Trump, who has emerged as the Republican presumptive nominee for the US presidency, told Fox News: “I think the migration has been a horrible thing for Europe, a lot of that was pushed by the EU.
“I would say [the UK] are better off without [the EU], personally, but I’m not making that as a recommendation, just my feeling.
“I know Great Britain very well, I know the country very well, I have a lot of investments there.”
However, Donald Trump added: “I want them to make their own decision.”
Last month, President Barack Obama said Britain would go to the “back of the queue” for trade deals with the US if it votes to leave the European Union, sparking anger among Leave campaigners in the UK.
Barack Obama said Britain was at its best when “helping to lead” a strong EU and membership made it a “bigger player” on the world stage.
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