Eric Trump speaks of his father's 'love' for the UK

Donald Trump's son Eric has spoken about his father's love for the UK as he begins his first trip to the country as US president.

Mr Trump Jnr said the UK is a "big part" of his father's life.

The 34-year-old arrived in Scotland on a golfing trip on Thursday morning, with his father flying into the UK later in the day ahead of a meeting with the Prime Minister and the Queen.

The president is expected to head to Scotland on Friday night and spend the weekend at his Turnberry golf resort in South Ayrshire.

Mr Trump Jnr flew into Aberdeen Airport on a Trump plane.

Asked about the president's view on US-UK relations, he said: "He has worked here for so many years, he knows so many people. His mother - my grandmother - is from Scotland. We just love this country, we love the UK in general and it's a big part of our lives. It's a big part of his life, pre-politics, and that can only be a positive."

He was speaking to journalists after playing golf at the Trump International Golf Links in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.

Mr Trump Snr was controversially granted permission to build a golf course at Balmedie by the Scottish Government, despite protests from environmental campaigners concerned about the impact the development would have on a site of special scientific interest.

His son described the area as "one of the most magical places in the world, one of the most beautiful places in the world".

He said his father could head to the north east of Scotland during his visit, adding: "It's still to be decided.

"I'm certainly going to Turnberry and I'll see him there. I know he loves the east coast, he loves this property more than maybe anywhere else in the world, so I certainly hope he can get out here."

Asked if his visit to Scotland had been scheduled to coincide with his father's, he added: "We had it planned a little bit before, and they happened to link up, so it's exciting.

"I don't get to see him nearly as much as I used to get to see him, and I'm excited to spend a couple of days with him - we're going to have a great time."

The middle son of the US president is executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation and oversees the golf resorts. He attended the reopening of the Turnberry course in 2016 alongside his father.

Protests against the president are planned across Scotland, including one set to take place at the Aberdeenshire course on Saturday.

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Lucy Christie and Laura Paterson, Press Association Scotland');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'ac92e575-4321-4948-a68b-520909e629b8');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:news,paservice:news:uk');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', null);ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Eric Trump speaks of his father\u2019s \u2018love\u2019 for the UK'});