Alex Salmond on the campaign trail in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 18, 2017 | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Alex Salmond: Trump is ‘a complete and utter nincompoop’ ‘The Grand Canyon is a minor crevice compared to the vast chasm of ignorance’ that is Trump, says ex-SNP leader.

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond called U.S. Donald Trump a "nincompoop" for saying that Scottish independence would be "terrible," the Scotsman reported Wednesday.

In the transcript of a Wall Street Journal interview with the American president obtained by POLITICO, Trump said: "Is Scotland going to go for the vote, by the way? You don't see it. It would be terrible. They just went through hell."

Much of Trump's concerns about Scottish independence seemed to stem from golf.

"One little thing, what would they do with the British Open if they ever got out?" Trump asked. "They’d no longer have the British Open. Scotland. Keep it in Scotland."

Salmond, who led the campaign ahead of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 — and resigned after voters opted to remain part of the U.K. — responded by saying Trump was "a complete and utter nincompoop."

“Donald Trump’s opposition to independence should seal the deal for the SNP [Scottish National Party] — and to do it on the basis of Scotland losing the ‘British Open’ is typical," Salmond said, clarifying that the prestigious golf tournament is called The Open, not The British Open.

“The Grand Canyon is a minor crevice compared to the vast chasm of ignorance of that man,” the former MP said.

Trump and Salmond were once friends, but a spat over a wind farm ended that relationship.

In the WSJ interview, Trump also said: "You don't hear the word Britain any more. It's very interesting. It's like, nope."