Donald Trump's Scottish golf course cordon remains as bomb squad investigates
However, police have now said that as the cordon was being removed, members from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment requested to carry out further checks of the vehicle.
Police have confirmed that the lock down of the entrance is still ongoing.
READ MORE: Funding golf tournament was not attempt to butter up Donald Trump, says John Swinney
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'As the cordon was being removed, military colleagues from EOD requested to carry out further checks on the vehicle.
'These remain ongoing, and the decision has been taken to maintain the cordon at this time.'
Members of the public, journalists and staff at the site were evacuated from the entrance to the course and moved beyond a crash barrier after the alarm was raised.
One report has claimed that people had been blocked from leaving the area for more than an hour.
Earlier in the day, Trump teed off at the New Course in Menie in front of a crowd including golfers, the Scottish First Minister and the Scottish Labour leader.
Trump also made reference to late James Bond actor Sean Connery's reported support for his golf resort – even attempting to recreate the actor's voice.
(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Just before hitting the first ball at the New Course, the US president told those gathered on a grandstand: 'We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful.
'The area has really welcomed us. If you remember at the beginning there wasn't quite a welcome, but it wasn't bad.
'But with time they liked us more and more, now they love us and we love them.'
Critics have claimed that the Trump developments in Scotland have not delivered as many jobs as promised and that work at the Menie site has caused environmental damage.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Earthquake hits New York City and eastern New Jersey late Saturday as residents report buildings shaking
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. Your support makes all the difference.
Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Secret Service ex-director who quit after Trump assassination attempt faces fresh humiliation
Kimberly Cheatle, the former Secret Service director who resigned in disgrace following the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, has suffered a new professional blow after receiving news her security clearance will not be renewed. The decision by the Secret Service, first reported by RealClearPolitics came after a wave of fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers, including Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), who led a sweeping investigation into the agency's catastrophic failures at Trump's July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 'Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign,' Johnson said. 'I see no reason for her security clearance to be reinstated.' Cheatle, handpicked by then–First Lady Jill Biden in 2022, had previously led the agency through what congressional investigators later described as one of the most glaring security breakdowns in presidential protection in modern history. Trump narrowly survived the July 13, 2024, shooting after a bullet grazed his ear, while a local firefighter, Corey Comperatore, was killed and two others were wounded in the chaos. Cheatle stepped down just 10 days later following intense pressure from lawmakers who demanded accountability over a security detail that failed to station an officer on the rooftop where the gunman had positioned himself, among other lapses. The revocation of her clearance is not only a personal humiliation for Cheatle, but also a stark departure from past practice. For decades, the Secret Service has routinely renewed security clearances for its former directors, maintaining open channels for consultations on national security issues. But under new Director Sean Curran, a Trump loyalist and the former head of the president's protective detail, that tradition has now ended. 'Director Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency,' a Secret Service spokesperson said. 'During that process, he has determined that not all former directors will have their clearances renewed.' The process to renew Cheatle's clearance was already underway until RealClearPolitics inquired about Johnson's objections. Soon after, the agency seemed to reverse course. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), a Judiciary Committee member who jointly investigated the Butler debacle, offered no sympathy. 'Kim Cheatle disgraced the Secret Service by failing to prevent a horrifying attempt on President Trump's life,' Blackburn said in a statement. 'Not only did she oversee one of the greatest security failures in our nation's history, but she also stonewalled congressional oversight and ran away from my colleagues and me when we confronted her. 'Under no circumstances should she be allowed to regain her security clearance, and it is shameful she would even try.' On the one-year anniversary of the Butler rally, Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), now chair of the Homeland Security Committee, issued a scathing report accusing Cheatle of lying to Congress when she claimed under oath she had not denied requests for increased security for Trump. Cheatle, speaking through her attorney, denied the accusation in a rare public statement. 'Any assertion or implication that I provided misleading testimony is patently false and does a disservice to those men and women on the front lines who have been unfairly disciplined for a team, rather than individual, failure.' And it appears this may not be the last of it. House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer has said a criminal referral is still on the table. 'If stark evidence of an intentional effort to deceive arises... this Committee will respond,' an Oversight aide said. 'Whether or not Ms. Cheatle's testimony meets the legal definition of misleading Congress, it's clear she failed in her mission leading the agency and appropriately resigned.' According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in July, the Secret Service received classified warnings about a possible Iranian threat to Trump 10 days before the Butler rally but that intelligence that was never passed to agents securing the site. The report, commissioned by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), reinforced suspicions that Cheatle's office had treated Trump more like a former president than a current presidential candidate, despite clear evidence that he was a high-value target. Multiple Secret Service insiders said Cheatle's team had repeatedly denied Curran's requests for additional counter-sniper support and other heightened security assets during the 2024 campaign. Cheatle's fall is just one part of a much larger shake-up in the US intelligence world under Trump's second term. Within 24 hours of retaking office, the president signed an executive order revoking the clearances of dozens of former intelligence officials including the now-infamous '51 spies who lied' who had signed a 2020 letter dismissing the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story as 'Russian disinformation.' Among those stripped of access: John Brennan, James Clapper, Leon Panetta, Michael Hayden, and John Bolton. In March, Trump went further, ordering the suspension of clearances for the Democratic-aligned law firm Perkins Coie, which was central to commissioning the now-discredited Steele dossier during the 2016 election. A federal judge has since blocked that order, but DOJ lawyers are appealing. National security attorney Sean Bigley said the revocations reflect a reform that is long-overdue. 'You have all of these former government bureaucrats, who are continuing to have access to the highest level of classified information... and then they can go and take that continued insider access and make themselves a hot commodity in the private sector or on the cable news circuit,' Bigley told RCP. 'That's not what security clearances are supposed to be used for – it's a fringe benefit that should be pulled.' Despite Cheatle's ousting, Trump has publicly taken a more tempered tone toward the Secret Service rank-and-file. 'They should have had communications with the local police... So there were mistakes made,' Trump said in an interview last month with Fox News. 'But I was satisfied in terms of the bigger plot... And I have great confidence in these people... They had a bad day. And I think they'll admit that.' Last month, the agency suffered another embarrassing episode when a Secret Service agent tried to sneak his wife onto an Air Force One flight during Trump's overseas trip to Scotland.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Pardons, positions and power: Trump's donor list raises questions about pay-for-access in his administration
A new financial disclosure from a super PAC supporting President Donald Trump contains the name of the deep-pocket donors who have gained access to the White House. MAGA Inc.'s donor list includes Trump appointees, a mom who managed to get Trump to pardon her son, and cryptocurrency traders, according to a new report by the New York Times. The super PAC managed to pull some major donations for the president; according to the disclosure, MAGA Inc. raised more than $177 million for Trump since January. Some names on the list wound up working for Trump in his administration. Anjani Sinha, a friend of Trump's, was nominated to be the ambassador to Singapore. He donated $1 million to MAGA Inc. He hasn't been approved for the position yet, possibly because he struggled to answer questions about Singapore during his confirmation hearing. Cody Campbell, who is now on Trump's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, donated half a million dollars to the super PAC. Josh Lobel, now sitting on Trump's Intelligence Advisory Board, donated $250,000. Several major donors are tied to the crypto industry, which has by and large found a friendly ally in Trump. According to the Times, Trump's inaugural committee raised an enormous $239 million, with approximately $18 million of that coming from crypto-related donors. According to the filing, donors working in cryptocurrencies accounted for $45 million of the donations reported through MAGA Inc. One donor alone — crypto entrepreneur Eric Schiermeyer — donated $1 million, and was given the chance to have dinner with Trump in Mar-a-Lago in March. The pair didn't just eat and chat — during the dinner, Schiermeyer apparently pitched Trump on an idea for a cryptocurrency called the "USA Token" that would be doled out to Americans for use in transactions. He reportedly wanted a government contract for his company to handle the task, according to the Times ' reporting. He told the paper that he managed to get his idea in front of Trump face-to-face, so he considers it a win. 'I was able to say my piece, and the idea is clearly making the rounds, so mission accomplished from my view.' he told the Times. And then there's Elizabeth Fago, who handed over $1 million to MAGA Inc. and got herself a dinner with Trump. Three weeks later, her son, Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud, was pardoned. A White House spokesperson who talked to the Times anonymously said that Fago's words, rather than her cash, convinced the president to give her son a break. 'He spoke directly to a mother who pleaded for her son, and when you're talking to a mother pleading for her son, that's a pretty powerful thing,' the source reportedly said. The Independent has requested comment from The White House. According to MAGA Inc., all of the apparent benefits that come along with shoveling money at Trump are just a coincidence. It told the Times that Trump doesn't treat donors any different from normal Americans. 'President Trump values his supporters and donors, but unlike politicians before him, he cannot be bought and works toward the best interest of the country,' it told the paper.
