Businessman Donald Trump is flying to Scotland on Thursday, just as worried Republicans wish he weren't going and worn-out Scots wish he weren't coming.
Trump, the GOP nominee for president, isn't meeting with political leaders and allies, but rather holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday at Trump Turnberry , the course he bought in 2014.
"Traditionally, nominees travel oversees during this period to brush up their foreign policy depth and visit 10 Downing Street and Israel — for politics back here," Scott Reed, senior political strategist for the US Chamber of Commerce
told the New York Times. "Everyone knows this is the wrong thing for the nominee to be doing now, and it is amazing this can't be stopped."
There are three reasons in particular Republicans are casting a wary eye toward Trump's trip to Scotland:
1. He could/should be using this time ahead of the convention to unify the party.
2. Trump's fundraising is woefully behind that of rival Hillary Clinton's.
3. His visit comes a day after the UK's Brexit vote, a referendum opposed by every outside political leader except for Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Conversely,
Politico reports that no major leader of a political party will attend Trump's Friday ceremony at the course on the West Coast of Scotland, near which locals raised a Mexican flag earlier this week, protesting Trump's campaign pitch on immigration.
Though his mother's heritage is Scottish, Trump's standing in the country has soured after several skirmishes with locals, residents and politicians alike, according to Politico.
"I had hoped that more people would see through Trump and see it for what it is, but then again I thought that about the campaign to leave the European Union, which is fueled by the same fear and resentment," Patrick Harvie, leader of Scotland's Green Party told Politico.