Amid high security, presumptive Republican candidate for United States presidency, Donald Trump, visited Scotland where he was due to inaugurate his luxury hotel and golf complex Friday.

Arriving by helicopter, Trump said the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union was a “great thing” and that the British people had “taken back their country.”

According to official results released Friday in Manchester, England, of the 72 percent voter turnout 17,410,742 _ 52 percent of eligible voters _ opted to leave the EU versus 16,141,241 _ 48 percent _ who voted to remain in the EU.

However, the vote in Scotland showed that every electoral constituency supported remaining in the EU with 62 percent of eligible voters in favor of the EU nation-wide.

Trump promised to “strengthen ties” with a “free and independent” United Kingdom if he takes the White House in November.

In a message published on his Facebook profile, he praised the victory of the “Leave” campaign in the UK’s EU referendum on Thursday in which he said Britons exercised the “sacred right of all free people,” adding that the British people “had declared their independence from the EU and have voted to retake control of their own politics, borders and economy.”

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who supported the “Remain” camp throughout the referendum campaign, said she would do everything possible to keep Scotland in the EU, including a possible second independence referendum.

Trump, whose mother was born in Scotland, has several business interests in the country including another golf-course in Aberdeenshire.

However, the decade-long construction of the Trump Turnberry complex has been plagued with controversy and was met with opposition by environmental groups, regional politicians and local residents.

Protesters are due to gather for his visit. The “Stand up to Trump” campaign, which petitions the government to ban entry to Trump in light of his xenophobic comments, has gathered almost 600,000 signatures.

Brexit Brings Chaos to Major Markets

Stocks plunged Friday in early trading on the New York Stock Market following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 409.87 points, or 2.28 percent, in the 30 minutes after the opening bell, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 2.74 percent as investors and traders reacted to the British exit – Brexit – from the European bloc.

The more selective S&P 500 index had one of its worst openings in 30 years, dropping 2.59 percent to 2,058.53.

Traders on the NYSE appear to be taking their cue from European markets, where the impact of the referendum’s outcome was dramatic.

The worst performance was in Madrid, where the stock market plunged 12.01 percent, followed by Milan, down 10.37 percent; Paris, 8.44 percent; Frankfurt, 7.13 percent; and London, 4.45 percent.

Brexit-related uncertainty also pushed down crude oil prices by 4 percent in both New York and London. EFE

London, Jun 24 (EFE)