Former US president Donald Trump has said the “wonderful people of Scotland are much better off” without Nicola Sturgeon in office.

Mr Trump, who left the White House for the final time as president in 2021 after losing to Joe Biden, made the comments after the First Minister on Wednesday shocked Holyrood and announced she would be stepping down.

Mr Trump operates two golf courses in Scotland, one at Turnberry and one in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.

Writing on Truth Social, the platform he set up after being kicked off Twitter and Facebook following the Capitol riots in January 2021, he said: “Good riddance to failed woke extremist Nicola Sturgeon of Scotland!

“This crazed leftist symbolises everything wrong with identity politics.

“Sturgeon thought it was OK to put a biological man in a women’s prison, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Sturgeon fought for a ‘Gender Recognition Reform Bill’ that would have allowed 16-year-old children to change their gender without medical advice.”

In a second post on the platform, Mr Trump continued: “I built the greatest golf properties in the world in Scotland but she fought me all the way, making my job much more difficult.

“The wonderful people of Scotland are much better off without Sturgeon in office!”

Ms Sturgeon, who was born and raised in Ayrshire, had spoken out in strong support of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was passed by members of the Scottish Parliament in December.

The Bill was passed despite concerns from some politicians, women’s rights groups and others that the changes could impact on safe spaces for females, which Ms Sturgeon and her Government repeatedly rejected.

However, the UK Government used its veto to block the reforms, with Scottish Secretary Alister Jack using Section 35 of the Scotland Act due to “serious adverse effects” on the operation of UK-wide equalities legislation.

In her resignation speech on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon said: “I consider this decision to be the right one for me, my party and the country.

"I hope it can also be the right one for our politics. If all parties were to take this opportunity to try to de-polarise public debate just a bit, to focus more on issues, and to reset the tone and tenor of our discourse.

“There will also be time in the days to come for me to say thank you properly to a very long list of people without whom I wouldn’t have lasted a single day in this job, let alone eight years.

"For now let me say thank you for all you have done for me, the government and the country.”