Donald Trump seen golfing at start of five day visit to Scotland
A MAJOR security operation surrounded US President Donald Trump as he played golf at the start of a five day long private visit to Scotland.
On Saturday morning he was seen on the golf course there, wearing a white cap and driving a golf buggy.
(Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) Ahead of that, a large number of police and military personnel have been spotted searching the grounds at the venue in South Ayrshire.
Various road closures have been put in place, with limited access for both locals and members of the media.
Trump is staying at [[Turnberry]] for the start of a five-day private visit to Scotland which will see him have talks with both UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.
(Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) A meeting has also been scheduled for him to talk about trade with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday.
With no talks apparently scheduled for Saturday, Trump – a well-known golf enthusiast – appears to be free to play the famous Turnberry course.
However, protests have been planned, with opponents of Trump expected to gather in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen later on Saturday and the Stop Trump coalition planning what it has described as being a 'festival of resistance'.
(Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) As well as visiting Trump Turnberry, he will head to Aberdeenshire later in his visit and is expected to open a second course at his golf resort in Balmedie.
As he landed in Ayrshire on Friday, Trump took questions from journalists, telling Europe to 'get your act together' on immigration, which he said was 'killing' the continent.
He also praised Starmer, who he described as a 'good man', but added that the Prime Minister is 'slightly more liberal than I am'.
(Image: Robert Perry/ PA) Saturday will be the first real test of Police Scotland during the visit as it looks to control the demonstrations in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, as well as any which spring up near to the president's course.
The force has asked for support from others around the UK to bolster officer numbers, with both organisations representing senior officers and the rank-and-file claiming there is likely to be an impact on policing across the country for the duration of the visit.
Before the visit started, Swinney appealed to Scots to protest 'peacefully and within the law'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Zelenskyy rejects formally ceding Ukrainian territory, says Kyiv must be part of any negotiations
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Saturday the planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that any peace deal excluding Kyiv would lead to 'dead solutions.' The Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for Friday in Alaska, is seen as a potential breakthrough. Trump had previously agreed to meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Zelenskyy, stoking fears Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent's biggest conflict since World War II. In a statement posted to Telegram, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's territorial integrity, enshrined in the constitution, must be non-negotiable and emphasized that lasting peace must include Ukraine's voice at the table. Zelenskyy said Ukraine 'will not give Russia any awards for what it has done' and that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.' Touching on Ukrainian anxieties that a direct meeting between Putin and Trump could marginalize Kyiv and European interests, Zelenskyy said: 'Any solutions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time, solutions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead solutions. They will never work.' Ukrainian officials had previously told the Associated Press privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognize Ukraine's inability to regain lost territories militarily. The Summit Trump said he will meet with Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. 'It seems entirely logical for our delegation to fly across the Bering Strait simply, and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska,' Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Saturday in a statement posted to the Kremlin 's news channel. Such a summit may prove pivotal in a war that began more than three years ago when Russia invaded its western neighbor and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there's no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace. In comments to reporters at the White House before his post confirming the date and place, Trump suggested that any agreement would likely involve 'some swapping of territories,' but he gave no details. Analysts, including some close to the Kremlin, have suggested that Russia could offer to give up territory it controls outside of the four regions it claims to have annexed. Trump said his meeting with Putin would come before any sit-down discussion involving Zelenskyy. His announcement that he planned to host one of America's adversaries on U.S. soil broke with expectations that they'd meet in a third country. The gesture gives Putin validation after the U.S. and its allies had long sought to make him a pariah over his war against Ukraine. Ultimatums and sanctions Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump, almost two weeks ago, moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. The deadline was Friday. But the White House did not answer questions that evening about the state of possible sanctions after Trump announced an upcoming meeting with Putin. Prior to Trump announcing the meeting with Putin, his efforts to pressure Russia into stopping the fighting had delivered no progress. The Kremlin's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace. Russia and Ukriane trade attacks Two people died and 16 were wounded Saturday when a Russian drone hit a minibus in the suburbs of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. Two others died after a Russian drone struck their car in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov. Ukraine's air force said Saturday it intercepted 16 of the 47 Russian drones launched overnight, while 31 drones hit targets across 15 different locations. It also said it shot down one of the two missiles Russia deployed. Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 21 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the Black Sea overnight into Saturday. ___ Morton reported from London. ___
Leader Live
7 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Azerbaijan and Armenia sign agreement at the White House
President Donald Trump was in the middle as Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan flanked him on either side. As the two extended their arms in front of Mr Trump to shake hands, the US leader reached up and clasped his hands around theirs. The two countries in the South Caucasus signed agreements with each other and the US that will reopen key transportation routes while allowing the US to seize on Russia's declining influence in the region. The deal includes an agreement that will create a major transit corridor to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said. Mr Trump said at the White House on Friday that naming the route after him was 'a great honour for me' but 'I didn't ask for this'. A senior administration official, on a call before the event with reporters, said it was the Armenians who suggested the name. Mr Trump has sought to be known as a peacemaker and made no secret of the fact that he covets a Nobel Peace Prize. Friday's signing adds to a series of peace and economic agreements brokered by the US this year. Both leaders said the breakthrough was made possible by Mr Trump and his team. 'We are laying a foundation to write a better story than the one we had in the past,' Mr Pashinyan said, calling the agreement a 'significant milestone'. 'President Trump in six months did a miracle,' Mr Aliyev said. Mr Trump remarked on how long the conflict went on between the two countries. 'Thirty-five years they fought, and now they're friends and they're going to be friends a long time,' he said. That route will connect Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, which are separated by a 20-mile-wide patch of Armenian territory. The demand from Azerbaijan had held up peace talks in the past. For Azerbaijan, a major producer of oil and gas, the route also provides a more direct link to Turkey and onward to Europe. Mr Trump indicated he would like to visit the route, saying, 'We're going to have to get over there.' Asked how he feels about lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mr Trump said 'very confident.' Mr Aliyev and Mr Pashinyan on Friday joined a growing list of foreign leaders and other officials who have said Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in helping ease long-running conflicts across the globe. The peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda helped end the decades-long conflict in eastern Congo, and the US mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, while Mr Trump intervened in clashes between Cambodia and Thailand by threatening to withhold trade agreements with both countries if their fighting continued. Yet peace deals in Gaza and Ukraine have been elusive. The signing of a deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics, also strikes a geopolitical blow to their former imperial master, Russia. Throughout the nearly four-decade conflict, Moscow played mediator to expand its clout in the strategic South Caucasus region, but its influence waned quickly after it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Trump-brokered deal would allow the US to deepen its reach in the region as Moscow retreats, senior US administration officials said. The Trump administration began engaging with Armenia and Azerbaijan in earnest earlier this year, when Mr Trump's key diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Mr Aliyev in Baku and started to discuss what a senior administration official called a 'regional reset'. Negotiations over who will develop the Trump Route, which will eventually include a rail line, oil and gas pipelines, and fibre optic lines, will likely begin next week, and at least nine developers have expressed interest already, according to the senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. Separate from the joint agreement, both Armenia and Azerbaijan signed deals with the United States meant to bolster cooperation in energy, technology and the economy, the White House said.
Glasgow Times
9 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Police Scotland ‘planning' for US vice president visit
JD Vance's unconfirmed appearance north of the border would follow president Donald Trump's five-day trip last month, when he hosted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at his golf resorts at Turnberry in South Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire. Vance is holidaying in the Cotswolds but travelled to the Foreign Secretary's Chevening House retreat in Kent on Friday, where the Republican joined David Lammy carp fishing at the countryside estate. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'Planning is under way for a potential visit to Scotland by the vice president of the United States. 'Details of any visit would be for the White House to comment on, however, it is important that we prepare in advance for what would be a significant policing operation.' Vance and his family are thought to be planning a visit to Ayrshire but would not stay at Trump's Turnberry resort, according to Sky News. In Kent, Vance said he had a 'love' for the UK but joked he had committed a diplomatic faux pas as he began his holiday. 'Unfortunately, the one strain on the special relationship is that all of my kids caught fish, but the Foreign Secretary did not,' he said. He described Lammy as a 'very, very gracious host'. Trump's visit to Scotland ended less than two weeks ago, after he met with both Starmer and First Minister John Swinney.
