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Trump golfs in Scotland as Epstein questions persist

Trump golfs in Scotland as Epstein questions persist

The Advertiser3 days ago
US President Donald Trump kept a low profile on his Scottish golf course, ahead of meetings with top British and European leaders, as questions swirled at home about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump arrived in Scotland on Friday night, with hundreds of people on hand to watch the arrival in Glasgow of Air Force One, the presidential aircraft.
He told reporters that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland - one in Turnberry on the west coast, where he is playing on Saturday and the other near Aberdeen.
He is also due to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Scottish leader John Swinney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom he called a "highly respected woman".
Frustrated by continued questions about his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and his 2019 death in prison, Trump told reporters to focus on bigger issues and other people.
"You make it a very big thing over something that's not a big thing," Trump said.
"Don't talk about Trump. What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest six months in the history of a presidency."
Trump was spotted on the golf course on Saturday morning, but he had no public events scheduled.
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.
Reporters and supporters were kept away.
Protests took place in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, hundreds of kilometres away.
The White House said Trump was golfing on Saturday with his son, Eric, and the US ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, and his son.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was also on the course.
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.
In Aberdeen, Scottish MP Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: "We stand in solidarity not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for".
"He is not welcome in Scotland, he is certainly not welcome in Aberdeenshire," she said.
Another protester, Anita Bhadani, hailed the "carnival of resistance" and said Trump's "huge promises" of creating thousands of jobs through development around his Scottish golf courses had not come to pass.
Trump bought the Turnberry property, which includes a hotel and golf course, for $US60 million ($A90 million) in 2014, in the hope of returning the course to the rotation for the Open Championship, but said his visit was "not about that".
Turnberry has been the site of the golf major four times, the most recent being in 2009.
It has not hosted the event since then, amid concerns about the lack of accommodation and infrastructure for an event that draws hundreds of thousands.
The Scottish government has flagged £180,000 ($A363,108) of public money to support a tournament at the Trump International golf links in Aberdeenshire, citing a tourism and economic boost.
The 2025 Nexo Championship, previously known as the Scottish Championship, is set to take place there next month.
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".
Trump will travel in the coming days to his property near Aberdeen, where he will open a second course named after his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to the United States.
White House officials hope some time out of the limelight will allow the Epstein controversy to die down, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
with PA
US President Donald Trump kept a low profile on his Scottish golf course, ahead of meetings with top British and European leaders, as questions swirled at home about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump arrived in Scotland on Friday night, with hundreds of people on hand to watch the arrival in Glasgow of Air Force One, the presidential aircraft.
He told reporters that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland - one in Turnberry on the west coast, where he is playing on Saturday and the other near Aberdeen.
He is also due to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Scottish leader John Swinney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom he called a "highly respected woman".
Frustrated by continued questions about his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and his 2019 death in prison, Trump told reporters to focus on bigger issues and other people.
"You make it a very big thing over something that's not a big thing," Trump said.
"Don't talk about Trump. What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest six months in the history of a presidency."
Trump was spotted on the golf course on Saturday morning, but he had no public events scheduled.
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.
Reporters and supporters were kept away.
Protests took place in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, hundreds of kilometres away.
The White House said Trump was golfing on Saturday with his son, Eric, and the US ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, and his son.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was also on the course.
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.
In Aberdeen, Scottish MP Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: "We stand in solidarity not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for".
"He is not welcome in Scotland, he is certainly not welcome in Aberdeenshire," she said.
Another protester, Anita Bhadani, hailed the "carnival of resistance" and said Trump's "huge promises" of creating thousands of jobs through development around his Scottish golf courses had not come to pass.
Trump bought the Turnberry property, which includes a hotel and golf course, for $US60 million ($A90 million) in 2014, in the hope of returning the course to the rotation for the Open Championship, but said his visit was "not about that".
Turnberry has been the site of the golf major four times, the most recent being in 2009.
It has not hosted the event since then, amid concerns about the lack of accommodation and infrastructure for an event that draws hundreds of thousands.
The Scottish government has flagged £180,000 ($A363,108) of public money to support a tournament at the Trump International golf links in Aberdeenshire, citing a tourism and economic boost.
The 2025 Nexo Championship, previously known as the Scottish Championship, is set to take place there next month.
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".
Trump will travel in the coming days to his property near Aberdeen, where he will open a second course named after his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to the United States.
White House officials hope some time out of the limelight will allow the Epstein controversy to die down, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
with PA
US President Donald Trump kept a low profile on his Scottish golf course, ahead of meetings with top British and European leaders, as questions swirled at home about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump arrived in Scotland on Friday night, with hundreds of people on hand to watch the arrival in Glasgow of Air Force One, the presidential aircraft.
He told reporters that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland - one in Turnberry on the west coast, where he is playing on Saturday and the other near Aberdeen.
He is also due to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Scottish leader John Swinney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom he called a "highly respected woman".
Frustrated by continued questions about his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and his 2019 death in prison, Trump told reporters to focus on bigger issues and other people.
"You make it a very big thing over something that's not a big thing," Trump said.
"Don't talk about Trump. What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest six months in the history of a presidency."
Trump was spotted on the golf course on Saturday morning, but he had no public events scheduled.
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.
Reporters and supporters were kept away.
Protests took place in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, hundreds of kilometres away.
The White House said Trump was golfing on Saturday with his son, Eric, and the US ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, and his son.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was also on the course.
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.
In Aberdeen, Scottish MP Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: "We stand in solidarity not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for".
"He is not welcome in Scotland, he is certainly not welcome in Aberdeenshire," she said.
Another protester, Anita Bhadani, hailed the "carnival of resistance" and said Trump's "huge promises" of creating thousands of jobs through development around his Scottish golf courses had not come to pass.
Trump bought the Turnberry property, which includes a hotel and golf course, for $US60 million ($A90 million) in 2014, in the hope of returning the course to the rotation for the Open Championship, but said his visit was "not about that".
Turnberry has been the site of the golf major four times, the most recent being in 2009.
It has not hosted the event since then, amid concerns about the lack of accommodation and infrastructure for an event that draws hundreds of thousands.
The Scottish government has flagged £180,000 ($A363,108) of public money to support a tournament at the Trump International golf links in Aberdeenshire, citing a tourism and economic boost.
The 2025 Nexo Championship, previously known as the Scottish Championship, is set to take place there next month.
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".
Trump will travel in the coming days to his property near Aberdeen, where he will open a second course named after his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to the United States.
White House officials hope some time out of the limelight will allow the Epstein controversy to die down, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
with PA
US President Donald Trump kept a low profile on his Scottish golf course, ahead of meetings with top British and European leaders, as questions swirled at home about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump arrived in Scotland on Friday night, with hundreds of people on hand to watch the arrival in Glasgow of Air Force One, the presidential aircraft.
He told reporters that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland - one in Turnberry on the west coast, where he is playing on Saturday and the other near Aberdeen.
He is also due to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Scottish leader John Swinney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom he called a "highly respected woman".
Frustrated by continued questions about his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and his 2019 death in prison, Trump told reporters to focus on bigger issues and other people.
"You make it a very big thing over something that's not a big thing," Trump said.
"Don't talk about Trump. What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest six months in the history of a presidency."
Trump was spotted on the golf course on Saturday morning, but he had no public events scheduled.
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.
Reporters and supporters were kept away.
Protests took place in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, hundreds of kilometres away.
The White House said Trump was golfing on Saturday with his son, Eric, and the US ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, and his son.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was also on the course.
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.
In Aberdeen, Scottish MP Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: "We stand in solidarity not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for".
"He is not welcome in Scotland, he is certainly not welcome in Aberdeenshire," she said.
Another protester, Anita Bhadani, hailed the "carnival of resistance" and said Trump's "huge promises" of creating thousands of jobs through development around his Scottish golf courses had not come to pass.
Trump bought the Turnberry property, which includes a hotel and golf course, for $US60 million ($A90 million) in 2014, in the hope of returning the course to the rotation for the Open Championship, but said his visit was "not about that".
Turnberry has been the site of the golf major four times, the most recent being in 2009.
It has not hosted the event since then, amid concerns about the lack of accommodation and infrastructure for an event that draws hundreds of thousands.
The Scottish government has flagged £180,000 ($A363,108) of public money to support a tournament at the Trump International golf links in Aberdeenshire, citing a tourism and economic boost.
The 2025 Nexo Championship, previously known as the Scottish Championship, is set to take place there next month.
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".
Trump will travel in the coming days to his property near Aberdeen, where he will open a second course named after his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to the United States.
White House officials hope some time out of the limelight will allow the Epstein controversy to die down, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
with PA
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Trump says Epstein ‘stole' Giuffre and other young women from Mar-a-Lago spa
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Donald Trump says Jeffrey Epstein 'stole' young women, including Virginia Giuffre, from Mar-a-Lago
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US President Donald Trump says he fell out with Jeffrey Epstein because the convicted sex offender "stole" young women, including Virginia Giuffre, from his Mar-a-Lago club. His admission on Tuesday, local time, came as Epstein's long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell sought immunity from future prosecution as a condition for testifying to a US congressional committee. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One while flying home from Scotland, Mr Trump gave some of his most expansive public comments yet about his falling out with Epstein, the wealthy and well-connected financier who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls. "People were taken out of the [Mar-a-Lago] spa, hired by him, in other words, gone," Mr Trump said. "When I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people.' "And then, not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'" Mr Trump also confirmed that one of the Mar-a-Lago spa attendants taken by Epstein was Ms Giuffre, the Australian who brought a civil case against Epstein's friend Prince Andrew, accusing him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. Ms Giuffre, who accused Epstein of using her as a sex slave, took her own life at her home in Australia in April. "I think she worked at the spa," Mr Trump told reporters. "I think that was one of the people. He stole her." The White House has said previously Mr Trump threw Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club two decades ago "for being a creep", and US media have reported that they became estranged over a Florida real estate deal. Mr Trump's comments came as lawyers for Ms Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, said they were open to having their client cooperate with Congress, but wanted her to be guaranteed immunity by politicians first. The Republican-led House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform aims to conduct a deposition of the British socialite on August 11 at the Florida prison where she is serving a 20-year sentence. Maxwell was convicted in New York in 2021 of helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. "Ms Maxwell cannot risk further criminal exposure in a politically charged environment without formal immunity," Maxwell's lawyer, David Markus, told Representative James Comer, who chairs the House committee, in a letter. Mr Markus laid down additional conditions for a deposition, including conducting it somewhere other than the prison, and being provided with the committee's questions in advance. He added that his client would testify to the committee in a public setting if she were to be granted clemency. Maxwell is asking the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction. Mr Trump has said he is not considering a presidential pardon for her. Questions over Mr Trump's past relationship with Epstein and his administration's handling of records related to the case have dogged the president for weeks, including during a weekend visit to Scotland. Mr Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. He said that he cut off ties with Epstein years before Epstein's death. Democrats in Congress and some of Mr Trump's core supporters have demanded the release of documents involving Epstein and Maxwell. Epstein served a 13-month jail sentence after pleading guilty in 2008 to a Florida state felony prostitution charge. AP/AFP

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