DONALD Trump yesterday confirmed he will snub Joe Biden’s inauguration as US president later this month, yet again fuelling speculation that he could be coming to Scotland.
The announcement came as Democrats moved forward with plans to impeach Trump over his alleged role in inciting a violent mob attack on the Capitol.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, discussed the prospect of impeachment with her leadership team Thursday night, hours after announcing the House was willing to act if Vice-President Mike Pence and other administration officials did not invoke Section Four of the 25th Amendment, the forceful removal of Trump from power by his own Cabinet.
Though he has less than two weeks left in office, impeaching Trump would prevent him from holding political office in the future.
According to reports the Democrats now have support from members of Trump’s own party.
Pelosi has spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing Trump from initiating military actions or a nuclear strike. Pelosi said she wanted “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike”.
She said the situation of “this unhinged president could not be more dangerous”.
WATCH: Joe Biden says lack of American House of Lords 'protects the people'
Five people, including a police officer, have now died following Wednesday’s riot in Washington DC.
His unwillingness to attend Biden’s inauguration is a break with tradition – only three presidents have missed their successor’s swearing-in.
Reports last weekend suggested Prestwick has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, that is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19.
Though there are tough new coronavirus restrictions in place, it’s not currently against the law for travellers to come to Scotland. If Trump was to fly over, he would just need to test negative for Covid-19 up to 72 hours before leaving the US. He would then need to quarantine for 10 days.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf yesterday called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to ban Trump from entering.
He told The National: “I believe the Home Secretary must give serious consideration to denying Mr Trump entry to the UK if he tries to travel here after leaving office in less than two weeks’ time.
“The UK Government has that power if an applicant’s presence is not conducive to the public good.”
He added: “Clearly the dreadful scenes and the tragic loss of life surrounding the confirmation of the US Presidential election result yesterday should be condemned and provide a glimpse of the kind of violent disorder we would all want to avoid in any circumstances.
“I will be writing to the Home Secretary asking her to give serious consideration to this matter.
“Quite separately of course, and as the First Minister has pointed out, the law in Scotland currently makes clear that no-one should be travelling into or out of the country unless they have an essential purpose for doing so.
“This is a critical requirement for all of us in Scotland and across the UK
as we work collectively to tackle the threat of coronavirus to public health, life, and our NHS.”
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