Trump Gets Brexit And Scotland So Wrong

On Friday morning, the day after U.K. citizens went to the polls for the historic Brexit vote and decided that their country would be leaving the European Union, Donald Trump landed in Scotland. The ostensible purpose of the visit, which was protested by locals before he even arrived, was to promote his golf course, Trump Turnberry, after purchasing and making renovations to the tune of 200 million pounds, according to the man himself. However, Trump also weighed in on the Brexit's Scotland effect — because there are few topics Trump doesn't have an opinion on, regardless of how much he actually knows about the subject.

During his Scotland visit, Trump called the Brexit "a great thing." He even compared the Brexit vote to his own presidential campaign's success, saying, "People are angry" and want to take "their country back." Trump's remarks are an especially bold comparison considering earlier this month he appeared to not even know what the Brexit was.

What's important about this outlandish declaration is that Trump is ignoring some critical consequences of the Brexit vote, including: the extreme economic repercussions, the threat to security, and the possibility of Scotland seceding from Britain.

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has warned that the economy will take a major hit when the United Kingdom leaves the EU. But Trump, ever looking out for himself, says he's looking forward to the decline of the value of the pound, calling it good for business. However, Trump boasted that the pound tanking would be a good thing. “When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry, frankly,” he said at a news conference. “For traveling and for other things, I think it very well could turn out to be a positive.”

But, political and economic journalist Matthew Yglesias importantly points out why Trump is so very wrong:

As far as the impact of the Brexit on Scotland, Trump proved to be even more out of touch in a tweet early Friday morning, saying:

His claim that "[Scotland] is going wild over the vote" is curious considering Scotland overwhelmingly voted against the measure and wanted to stay a part of the EU. In fact, Scots are more seriously thinking of leaving the United Kingdom because of the Brexit results. In turn, the threat of Scottish secession may impact British security. If Scotland were to leave the United Kingdom, the latter would likely have to relocate the nuclear submarines stored at HMS Naval Base Clyde in Falsane.

On second thought, Trump may actually be right about comparing the Brexit vote to his own presidential campaign because an economic downturn, new threats to national security, and lack of unity does sound a lot like what you can expect in a Trump presidency.