Scottish leader says travel rules would also apply to Trump

Scotland’s first minister said Tuesday that the country’s coronavirus rules barring entry for most visitors would apply to President Trump amid local media speculation about a visit by the president to one of his golf courses.

The Sunday Post reported that Trump could be planning a visit to Scotland around the time of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, citing aviation sources who said a U.S. military plane is expected to arrive. 

“This is not accurate. President Trump has no plans to travel to Scotland,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told The Hill in a statement on Tuesday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she has “no idea what Donald Trump’s travel plans are” but underscored that any visit to Scotland to play golf would not be allowed.

“We’re not allowing people to come into Scotland without an essential purpose right now,” Sturgeon said during a coronavirus briefing, according to The Herald. “And that would apply to him just as it applies to anybody else.”

“Coming to play golf is not what I would consider to be an essential purpose,” Sturgeon continued.

Sturgeon announced Monday that the country would go into a strict national lockdown starting this week in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Sunday Post quoted a source at Prestwick airport who said that “there is a booking for an American military version of the Boeing 757, on January 19, the day before the inauguration.” The aircraft is “normally used by the vice president but often used by the first lady,” the source said, adding, “presidential flights tend to get booked far in advance, because of the work that has to be done around it.”

The newspaper reported that an MC-12W Liberty made a number of flights over Trump Turnberry in November and another U.S. Army aircraft carried surveillance flights over the resort that month, though Trump never visited.

A source told the Post that “the survey aircraft was based at Prestwick for about a week,” usually meaning that “Trump is going to be somewhere for an extended period of time.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere told The Hill on Tuesday that “anonymous sources who claim to know what the president is or is not considering have no idea.”

“When President Trump has an announcement about his plans for Jan. 20 he will let you know,” he added.

Trump has refused to concede to Biden and has not indicated plans to attend the inauguration as per tradition, amid speculation that he may run for president again in 2024. The White House has not revealed any travel plans for the president leading up to Biden’s inauguration.

–Updated at 2:07 p.m.