Trump Won't Be Allowed to Visit Scotland to Play Golf

The White House has denied rumors that President Trump is planning to fly to Scotland on his last full day in office—and Scotland's leader says he wouldn't be welcome anyway. Scotland is under a strict lockdown order and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Tuesday that the rules will also apply to Trump if he tries to visit one of his golf courses in his mother's homeland, the BBC reports. Asked about Trump's possible plans, she said, "I hope and expect that his immediate travel plan is to exit the White House, but beyond that I don’t know." She added: "We are not allowing people to come into Scotland without an essential purpose right now. 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 said, per CNN.

The Scotland speculation began with reports in the Scottish media that a Glasgow-area airport had "been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, that is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19," the day before Joe Biden's inauguration. The White House said Tuesday that the reports are "inaccurate" and Trump isn't planning to visit Scotland. "Anonymous sources who claim to know what the President is or is not considering have no idea," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement, per the Washington Post. "When President Trump has an announcement about his plans for Jan. 20 he will let you know." (More Scotland stories.)