asked for."

Mr Trump also praised the Royal and Ancient, the ruling body in golf outside north America, for working closely while changes were made to the resort's Open course.

image copyright Reuters image caption The lighthouse at Turnberry provided a picturesque backdrop to Donald Trump's news conference

Turnberry is one of 10 UK golf courses to host the Open golf championship on a rotational basis.

The tournament has been played there on four occasions, most recently in 2009.

The Open is expected to be played in England in 2020 and at St Andrews in 2021, meaning the earliest it could return to Turnberry would be 2022.

Mr Trump's news conference was interrupted comedian Simon Brodkin, also known as Lee Nelson, who attempted to hand out golf balls with a swastika on them. Hewas escorted away by security officials.

Controversial comments

That incident, and the protest outside Turnberry, appear to have been motivated by controversial comments from the outspoken billionaire during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Mr Trump's comments on Muslims were described as "divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong" by Prime Minister David Cameron and "repugnant and offensive" by Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Earlier this week, two local residents began flying Mexican flags on properties surrounding Mr Trump's other Scottish golf course in Aberdeenshire.

They said they wanted to "show solidarity" with the people of Mexico after Mr Trump outlined plans to build a wall along the US-Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants.

Before Mr Trump arrived, Keir McKechnie, spokesman for Stand Up to Racism Scotland, said: "His message of hate is one