Donald Trump goes golfing as protesters speak out against his visit to Scotland
Dressed in black, with a white cap that said USA on it, Mr Trump could be seen driving a golf buggy, flanked by a fleet of security personnel, as he played on the famous course which he bought in 2014.
However hundreds gathered in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen – near the site of Mr Trump's other Scottish golf resort – to make their opposition to the president known.
As the visit got under way Scottish First Minister John Swinney – who is due to hold talks with the president later in the trip – announced public money to support a tournament at the Trump International golf links in Aberdeenshire.
The 2025 Nexo Championship – previously known as the Scottish Championship – is set to take place there next month, supported by £180,000 of public funding.
Mr Swinney said: 'The Scottish Government recognises the importance and benefits of golf and golf events, including boosting tourism and our economy.'
But Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie likened the awarding of public cash to the tournament to 'handing some pocket money to the school bully'.
Mr Trump will head to his golf resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire later on in his five-day long private visit.
As part of his trip he will also hold talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, where the two men will refine a trade deal between the UK and the US that was agreed earlier this year.
The president is also expected to talk trade with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday.
But with no talks apparently scheduled for Saturday, the president, who is well known for his love of golf, was free to take to the famous course at Turnberry.
A major security operation surrounded him, with police officers and military personnel seen scouring the grounds ahead of Mr Trump teeing off.
After touching down in Scotland in Air Force One on Friday night, the president was seen on the course at Turnberry on Saturday morning – although security fencing had also been erected around the resort, with road closures also in place to help protect Mr Trump, who last year survived an assassination attempt.
Police Scotland has asked for support from other forces across the UK to bolster officer numbers for the high profile visit – with Mr Swinney appealing to people to protest 'peacefully and within the law'.
In Aberdeen Green north east Scotland MSP Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: 'We stand in solidarity not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for.'
Speaking about the US president, Ms Chapman said: 'He believes that climate change isn't real, he believes that cutting services for those in the world with the least is the right thing to do.
'We say no to all of those things, not in our name, never in our name.'
With Mr Trump having last year been convicted by a New York jury of falsifying business records, she said the president was a 'convicted felon'.
And she told the PA news agency: 'He is not welcome in Scotland, he is certainly not welcome in Aberdeenshire.
'We know that he is a convicted felon.
'We also know that all of the promises he has repeatedly made to Scotland have come to nothing, there hasn't been the development of jobs or houses that he promised when he opened his course in Aberdeenshire a few years ago.'
Mr Harvie was also critical of the president, telling PA: 'He's attacking our renewables industry once again, one of the success stories of Scotland, and he is trying to attack and undermine it.
'And that is after having trashed part of our natural environment on the Aberdeenshire coast to build his golf resort.'
Anita Bhadani was one of those who organised the Stop Trump Coalition protest outside the US Consulate General's office in Edinburgh.
She told PA: 'We are really excited, across this whole weekend, there's so many campaign groups turning out in the streets, tacking in action in their communities or at rallies like this – it's kind of like a carnival of resistance.'
She said Mr Trump's 'huge promises' of creating thousands of jobs through development around his Scottish golf courses had not come to pass.
A number of speakers addressed the crowd, condemning President Trump, including one who chanted 'death to the IDF'.
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The Independent
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4 minutes ago
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Donald Trump is still in Scotland, for some reason using it as a base to agree trade deals between the US and other countries Donald Trump is still in Scotland, for some reason using it as a base to agree trade deals between the US and other countries. But at least we're all paying millions of pounds to ensure he can do that - and play some golf - without any pesky protesters bothering him. He welcomed Ursula Von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, to his Scottish White House - and very rapidly agreed a trade deal with her. Like, in less than an hour. And he, obviously, had another rant about wind farms. Here's everything you need to know about the happenings in Trump World: Scotland. Buckle up. 1. He went golfing with a motorcade of 27 vehicles - including one very special one back out on the course this morning for a chilly second morning of his golf holiday in Scotland. He was seen on his Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire, being transported between transported between holes in a motorcade of 26 golf carts plus one curious vehicle. This thing appears to be an articulated, secret service golf buggy. Sort of a golf equivalent of the Beast. It has reportedly been dubbed "Golf Force One". His adult sons Eric and Don Jr were both with him on the course. 2. Some British fans came to see him at the golf course. And by some we mean three There was no sign of anti-Trump protesters outside the golf course this morning - three British Trump fans were out on the hill next to Turnberry. They wore Make America Great Again hats, waved small US flags and held a sign that read "Don't trust Starmer". Trump waved and blew a kiss towards the fans before he took his shot. Tom English, one of the group who had travelled from Blackburn, said: "I can't believe we're the only ones, to be fair. I thought there'd be more people." Asked why he'd travelled so far to support the leader of another country, Mr English said: "I've just loved him from day one when he ran. I like the way he speaks, his personality, the comedy gold he comes out with. "He had me at Rosie O'Donnell to be honest with you." Ms O'Donnell has been the target of a long running campaign of abuse by Trump, who earlier this month threatened to revoke her citizenship. "I've supported him all the way through. It's just because he'a not one of them, basically. He came in, said he's going to drain the swamp, end the deep state and that's what he's trying to do." 3. One Brit said he'd totally sussed out Trump's plan for the Epstein files "I can see what's happening," said Tom English, who travelled from Blackburn to see Trump in the flesh. He said he was not bothered by the scandal - here's why. "If you follow Trump from day one, and you know how he works, and you've read his book, The Art of the Deal, and you know he's studied the art of war, then you can see the tactics he's using." Asked what the tactics he's using are, Tom said: "The Dems don't want it releasing. You've got judges and people in congress who don't want the Epstein files releasing for years on end now. "So he says, it's all fake. It's fake news. The Democrats are making it up. "All of a sudden it's the Republicans that are blocking it and the Democrats are voting for it to be released." Still with us? Good. He went on: "Now what will happen is he'll order the MAGA lot to reverse the vote, and they'll be Trump won't be in there. "But his adversaries will. That's my prediction." So, to recap, the whole of the last few weeks, where Trump has been pulling out all the stops to divert attention away from discussions about the Epstein files, has been a massive red herring. It's a sneaky ruse to trick the Democrats into releasing the files - because it's only them who will actually be damaged by them. This seems like a high risk strategy to us, especially considering the weight of evidence and reporting that contradicts every element of it. 4. He threatened to have Beyonce prosecuted Trump posted a massively unhinged rant on Truth Social, during which he threatened to have Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey prosecuted over things that never happened. It comes down to a baseless, evidence-free nonsense conspiracy theory posted online by people who made it up out of thin air, which claims Beyonce charged Kamala Harris $11m for her endorsement, and Oprah claimed £3m for expenses. Trump wrote: "I'm looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the Presidential Election, and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!), Three Million Dollars for "expenses," to Oprah, Six Hundred Thousand Dollars to very low rated TV "anchor," Al Sharpton (a total lightweight!), and others to be named for doing, absolutely NOTHING! These ridiculous fees were incorrectly stated in the books and records." Not a word of the above sentence (and yes, it is one sentence) is true. He went on: "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO. Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out! Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter." Nobody did any of this. It was made up. 5. He moaned that he didn't get enough thanks for sending food to Gaza Speaking ahead of his negotiations with Ursula Von der Leyen, Trump admitted he was "not in a good mood." He fumed about America not getting more credit for sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. "We gave $60 million two weeks ago and nobody even acknowledged it, for food," he said. "And it's terrible. You know, you really at least want to have somebody say thankyou. No other country gave anything. We gave $60 million two weeks ago for food for Gaza and nobody acknowledged it." He went on: "And nobody said 'Gee, thankyou very much'. And that would be nice, to have at least a thankyou." Get Donald Trump updates straight to your WhatsApp! As the world attempts to keep up with Trump's antics, the Mirror has launched its very own US Politics WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest news from across the pond. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 6. In case anyone didn't know already, he explicitly gave away why he hates wind turbines so much In his extended disco remix rant ahead of a relatively brief negotiation with Von der Leyon, Trump somehow managed to weave onto talking about wind farms. At length. Again. But in case you were wondering why the subject was on his mind, he gave the game away: "Today, I'm playing the best course I think in the world. Turnberry. "Even though I own it, it's probably the best course in the world. "And I look over the horizon and I see 9 windmills at the end of the 18th. I say, isn't that a shame?" 7. He insists he didn't rush through the EU trade deal to distract from the Epstein scandal We actually kind of believe him on this one. This seems to be a fairly natural reaction.
