‘Brexit will make Britain great again’ says US presidential candidate Donald Trump

IT was supposed to be a fleeting break in his presidential campaign to plug his luxury Scottish golf courses.

Instead, in between the ribbon-cutting and publicity snaps, Donald John Trump was pitched into a ringside seat for a defining moment in British history.

And the billionaire real estate mogul made sure he extracted every last drop of political capital from the Brexit maelstrom.

The man who would lead the free world has been quick to draw comparisons between Brexiteers and his own rebellious, politician-loathing, elite-bashing army of supporters.

ON SCOTTISH REFERENDUM: 'To think that you might go through that again is sad'

Speaking at his luxury Aberdeen golf course, Trump — who has called for a wall to be built on the US border with Mexico — insists unfettered immigration triggered Brexit.

And he believes the EU will self-destruct “very quickly” following Britain’s momentous decision to leave.

Trump, 70, who is battling Hillary Clinton for the US presidency, says mass immigration will make Europe “unrecognisable” within a decade.

And he says migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya should be sent to “safe zones”.
The Donald — a nickname coined by his Czech-born first wife Ivana — greets me with a vigorous handshake, showing no signs of his “germophobia”.

If the dad of five is to make the unlikely leap from reality TV host to commander-in-chief of the world superpower, pressing the flesh is something the “clean hands freak” is going to have to get used to.

ON FUTURE OF EU: 'A lot of other countries will leave very quickly'

Beckoning me to a sumptuous leather sofa at his luxurious MacLeod House hotel, he’s a little more circumspect than the shrill figure of the US primaries. But only a little.

For three-times married Trump needs to win over a swathe of America’s female and Hispanic vote if he’s to claim his most illustrious piece of real estate yet — the White House.

Exuding seemingly uncrushable confidence, it’s not long before he is off, rapping his uncompromising take on world affairs.

Jaw jutting and (normal-sized) hands waving feverishly, Trump insists: “I think the EU is going to break up. The UK led the way, you’re going to have a lot of other countries going very quickly.
“I think many countries in the EU want independence, essentially.”

The presumptive Republican candidate adds: “Immigration was the biggest reason for Brexit.”

So what would a President Trump do about migrants and refugees fleeing war and poverty across the Med from Libya?

“I would not allow them into Europe,” he says, as he takes a swig of Diet Coke.

“And you know what? It’s not a politically nice thing to say. It would be so much easier for me to tell you, ‘I accept them with open arms’.

“I would help them. Maybe I would create safe zones over there. Europe has enough problems, bigger problems than anyone.”

ON MIGRANTS: 'I would not allow them to come into Europe'

Trump was condemned across the globe after he called for a “total and complete shutdown” of US borders to Muslims in the wake of the San Bernardino attack. So would British Muslims be free to travel to the US under Trump?

“Everyone has to be vetted very strongly,” he says.

“We cannot play games any more. We can be politically correct and say, ‘Everything is wonderful’, but we have to be very strong, vigilant and smart.

“Everybody has to be vetted. Are you on a terror watch list? I want to know. Are you coming from a terror country?”

I was given a fleeting glimpse into his billionaire lifestyle at Aberdeen Airport, where his private jet, emblazoned with “Trump” in huge, gaudy letters, stands ready. Next to it, his UK-based helicopter to ferry him about.

Trump, whose mother Mary was born on the Isle of Lewis, describes Scotland’s post-Brexit lurch towards a repeat referendum on independence as “very sad”. But he believes the EU is likely to crumble before the UK.

He says: “It’s too bad about the Scottish referendum because I was here when it was going on and the sad part was it was such a disruption in Scotland. To think that you’re going to go through that again is very sad.”

So what happens to the special relationship if the UK splits into independent nations?

“I’d be friendly with all of them,” he insists. “It would still be special. And not because my mother was Scottish. Britain has been an amazing ally. Sometimes I wish you weren’t, like with Iraq. I wish you had convinced us not to go in. I was against going into Iraq. It was one of the worst mistakes our country has made.”

ON LEAVING EUROPE: 'Immigration was the single biggest reason for Brexit'

In blue blazer and crisp white shirt, Trump’s belly protrudes over his waistline. Nevertheless he looks good for his 70 years. His skin is clear and that infamous tousled hair is kept in check by a cap.

Before posing for a photo, Trump removes the hat and proudly ruffles history’s most famous combover.

His jaw-droppingly attractive daughter Ivanka — watching on protectively — makes sure he swiftly puts it back on.

“His hair has iconic status in its own right,” she tells me later. “It’s all real and it works for him.”

Ivanka, 34, daughter of Trump’s first wife Ivana and now a Trump Organisation executive, says Donald was a disciplinarian during her childhood.

“He wasn’t home every night for dinner but he was always available to us as children,” she tells me.

“He was an incredibly warm father but also a strong father, a disciplinarian. He raised my siblings and I to work hard. To be good people.”

The mum of three adds: “I think one of the things people respond to about my father is his authenticity. If you ask him a question he will give you an answer.

“He’s real and people like that. People know where he stands on issues.”

Does he still get women shoving telephone numbers in his pockets, as he once claimed? “I don’t — and if I did I wouldn’t be telling The Sun,” he says with a chuckle.

Now married to Slovenia-born former model Melania, 46, Trump’s poll ratings with women are disastrous.

“I don’t know if it’s true,” he says of the polls. “I go to rallies and half the room is women. They have signs saying, ‘Women for Trump’.

“Women, like men, want to have strong borders, they want protection, they want to feel safe and secure.”

Would Trump consider Sarah Palin, a vice-presidential nominee in 2008, as a running mate?

He insists: “I would have a woman as my running mate. I’m not going to say who, but I would consider it.”

Trump also tells me he’s “great” on foreign policy. He says: “When I was young it was always a thing that the US had never lost a war. Now we never win a war.

“We don’t have good trade deals. We don’t make good deals any more.”

He says he would hit IS’s oil supplies “so hard your head would spin” and reckons China is “draining money and jobs out of the US”. “But I’m not blaming China, I’m blaming our leaders for letting them get away with it,” he explains.

On Russia’s Vladimir Putin, he tells me: “He said very nice things about me and I accept those things . . . it would be nice if the US got along with Russia.”

On that note, The Donald signals our time is up. But not without a final plug for his campaign.

“See that hat,” he says. “‘Make America Great Again’. I can do it.”

And with that I bid farewell to a man who would be a shoo-in for the White House — if sheer swagger was the only requirement for victory.