It is often hailed as the more liberal of the Home Nations.
But Scotland has now been found to be home to the biggest Donald Trump supporters in western Europe.
In the lead up to the election, a YouGov poll revealed that just 16 per cent of the UK population were rooting for Trump to win the US election.
This compared to 17 per cent in Spain, and 24 per cent in Italy.
Yet, of all the nations in western Europe to support the Republican candidate, Scots came out on top, with a quarter hoping that he would beat his rival Kamala Harris – as he did.
Donald Trump arriving in Scotland to cut the ribbon on a ‘spectacular’ but controversial second golf course in the country in May last year
Pictured: Trump is seen playing a round of golf during a visit to Scotland in 2018. He spent two days at course while in office, meeting the then-Prime Minister Theresa May and the late Queen during the visit
The poll by Norstat and The Sunday Times revealed that 25 per cent of the Scottish population, based on a sample size of 1,011 people, said they would prefer to see Trump as the new US president.
The 78-year-old has on multiple occasions expressed his ‘love’ for Scotland, even saying ‘it’s great to be home’ when he arrived in Aberdeen in May last year on a visit to one of his famous golf courses.
He described the Scottish as ‘great, tough people’ when he opened up about his mother and father after announcing he is set to open a second golf course in Aberdeenshire next year – which will be named MacLeod after his mother Mary.
His mother was a Scottish immigrant and was just 18 when she first arrived in New York, having travelled from her home on the Scottish island of Lewis in search of domestic work.
Despite his Scottish roots, the president’s popularity in the country comes as a surprise to many, given its reputation for being left-wing.
Donald Trump plays a round of golf after the opening of The Trump International Golf Links Course in Aberdeen on July 10, 2012
Donald Trump seen here with his father Fred and mother Mary Anne in New York in 1992
Former President Trump with his mother in 1977; Mary Anne Trump died in 2000
To get to the bottom of why, MailOnline has spoken to some of Trump’s biggest fans in Glasgow’s city centre about their support for the returning president.
Businessman, Kieon Lategam-Urquhart, 20, said: ‘I’m a Trump supporter because I love investment, and I’m a strong believer in investing in your future. I’m also into crypto currency and Trump has a lot of big plans for crypto – he’s backing bitcoin a lot and that’s a big game changer for me.
‘I personally think he can save America and make it great again. He’s an attention seeker but he says what he needs to and I think that’s why so many people like him. He gets his point across really well and I do love the fact he’s a Christian – I’m a very strong believer in Christianity.
‘I’m quite concerned for his safety though because people have already tried to assassinate him twice and fear that they might actually do it this time because he’ll be in the public eye even more. Trump isn’t the kind of guy who would travel with a lookalike.
‘He has such big plans for his first 100 days in office and people are going to realise quickly that he’s going to change their life for the better.’
Kieon Lategam-Urquhart, 20, celebrating the Trump victory while wearing his ‘Make America Great Again’ cap
Kieon believes Trump has ‘big plans for his first 100 days in office’ and is certain ‘people are going to realise quickly that he’s going to change their life for the better’
Thomas Shirra and Ryan Gallagher, wearing matching Trump 2024 caps, believe the new US president is a ‘legend’
Construction workers Thomas Shirra and Ryan Gallagher, from Falkirk, also told MailOnline that Trump ‘is a legend’ as they donned their ‘Trump 2024’ hats.
Thomas said: ‘He’s everything America needs, he’s the only one willing to stop migration and look out for the people of America.
‘The guy is an absolute legend in my eyes. I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard he had won the election – I agree with all his policy and I think we need a Trump government here in the UK.’
Ryan added: ‘He’s the man who is going to make America great again, he done it last time he was in office and he’s going to make it even greater this time around.
‘I’m not surprised Scots are huge fans of Trump, and I think his fan base has grown even bigger this time. We need more Trumps in the world. He says everything everyone else is scared to say and that’s why I like him so much. He’s not scared of anything.’
The positive views of Trump also come as a surprise considering the levels of backlash his 18-hole, 500-hectare, Aberdeenshire golf course has received in the years since it was first opened.
In 2018, the Scottish Natural Heritage admitted the dune systems surrounding the golf site had been ‘partially destroyed’ by the development.
A documentary entitled You Are Trumped Too, a sequel to the initial 2012 documentary You Are Trumped, exposed the impacts his golf resorts had on residents, including one grandmother who had her water supply cut off.
And despite claiming it would be a £1bn project that would invest in ‘hundreds of millions of pounds’ into the economy when it was first opened in 2012, Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course only made profit for the first time in 2022.
The president also drew criticism from Scots when it was announced in August that his Turnberry resort would be hiking prices to £1,000 per round – making it the most expensive golf resort in the UK.
He has also openly spoken out against Scottish Independence in the past, making it clear he thinks the UK should remain together.
But, Mark McGeoghegan, a polling and politics expert at the University of Glasgow, told the Sunday Times the Norstat results are not actually that surprising.
He said: ‘For decades, we have stuck to the myth that we are more left-wing and socially liberal than our neighbours, a story that, for the pro-independence wing of Scottish politics, feeds a sense that our different politics justifies independence.
‘But it is just that, a story.
Donald Trump has also announced that his new links golf course will open in Aberdeen in the summer of 2025. Pictured is the site for the new championship links golf course
‘The sense that Scotland is more immune to Trump’s brand of right-wing populism than other parts of the UK is rooted in the fact that Thatcherism and deindustrialisation rendered the Conservatives toxic north of the border and that the SNP chose to target Labour and Labour voters.’
During his last tenure in office, Trump met the late Queen with his wife Melania for tea and inspected the Guard of Honor at Windsor Castle. He also met her a year later in 2019 for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, part of a visit to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
The Norstat poll revealed that within those backing Trump, he is backed by 17 per cent of SNP voters and 20 per cent of Labour voters.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania were welcomed for a full state visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019. It was Trump’s second visit to the UK as president
It came with the full pomp and circumstance of a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, part of a visit to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Trump brought his four adult children
Ryan McNairn, 28, thinks people paint an unfair picture of the US President
Asked about his view of Trump, online personal trainer, Ryan McNairn, 28, thinks people paint an unfair picture of the US President. He added: ‘Personally, I don’t look too much into the facts of stuff but one big positive I seen when he was in power before is that there was less war, there was less unemployment in America and more peace.
‘He gets painted out to be this charlatan of being negative, being a racist and against LGBT, but I really think that’s just a picture people paint of him. He wants what’s best for America and that’s it. If I was the leader of a country, I would be the same, I would want the best for my people.
‘Everything he does is tactical, he’s not a stupid guy, everything is done for a reason. I am a little bit surprised that Scotland has the biggest number of Trump supporters in Western Europe, but then again, I think people in my circle like the way he is because he does care about his people.
‘I’m not saying don’t care about the rest of the world, but you need to look after your own people first. Just look around us in Glasgow, you can see that’s not what’s happening here, the UK Government have neglected their own people for a long time now and I think that’s why people here like Trump so much, because he cares about his people.’
Adam McPartland, 19, says: ‘I just think Trump talks about things that others are too scared to talk about, but they’re things that need to be spoke about.’
The student says he agrees with the majority of his views, especially his antiwar position, but says he doesn’t like his ‘chat about stopping people coming into America’
Student, Adam McPartland, 19, said: ‘I just think Trump talks about things that others are too scared to talk about, but they’re things that need to be spoke about. He’s obviously not the most amazing guy walking this earth, but he makes sense.
‘I agree with the majority of his views, especially his antiwar chat, I don’t really like his chat about stopping people coming into America and building a wall and all that though and kicking people out – everybody has a place on this planet. I’m not surprised he’s back in office, the American people were sick of that clown Biden. He done nothing for America.
‘Trump knows what he’s doing, despite him going off on pure mad rants, he knows what he’s doing and he’s going to get the job done. I hope he gets the education system sorted in America, because that’s really important. I think he’ll sort out the situation in Ukraine as well because that’s been going on far too long.’
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Publish date : 2024-11-10 06:30:00
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