Police braced for Trump visit with 5,000 officers deployed

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

Officers face cancelled rest days, extended shifts and deployment across multiple sites.
David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, told the Sunday Mail: 'It's a recipe for disaster. We don't have enough cops.
'President Trump is a magnet to certain groups. There will be protests. And just because the President is in one place doesn't mean that's where the protests will take place.
'With this event, it is survival mode. That's the mentality that will set in.'
He added: 'We'll survive but we shouldn't have to just survive. They will need plenty of help from the UK.
'All this costs money and Police Scotland's budget is already bust. Everybody working longer hours and days has a knock-on effect for months, if not years.'
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David Threadgold, the Federation's chair, told Scotland on Sunday the service would need to ask for help from other forces: 'This is a huge policing event for Scotland and we will require mutual aid because of the huge demand on my colleagues.
'Very few, if any, cops will not be impacted by next week's visit and beyond.
'I suppose the natural comparison in terms of scale is previous presidential visits and COP26.
'We are talking about bespoke workforce plans because although this is a well-established workforce, we are cognisant we cannot deliver this without impacting on individual officers across the country.
'What that means in simple terms is some may be required to work 12-hour shifts, for example, which normally wouldn't happen.
'That is the type of change cops will see during this event.
'We also need to consider how officers will eat and drink and rest during this policing, which will be a challenge.'
He added: 'This is already a difficult time for Police Scotland as they are trying to organise and deliver this at short notice during a period of high annual leave.'
Police Scotland is expected to deploy around 5,000 officers — nearly a third of its current headcount of 16,500.
The overall bill for the visit could exceed £5 million. Trump's 2018 presidential visit triggered a UK-wide policing bill of £18m and a cost-sharing row between Holyrood and Westminster.
Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond told Scotland on Sunday, Police Scotland would deploy local, national and specialist resources to 'maintain public safety, balance rights to peaceful protest and minimise disruption'.
'We are not going to be telling officers they cannot go on holiday, but those who ask for time off at short notice are very unlikely to get it.
'Operation Roll is a very high demand event but we will continue to deliver community policing.
'Inevitably there will be an impact on our ability to do that, but the public should be reassured that emergencies will still be responded to — there just might be an impact on service delivery.
'There are so many people committed to this event but the [[pub]]lic should be confident that we are excellent at what we do, and our experience of policing things like Operation Unicorn and the Commonwealth Games shows we can deliver.'
The Civil Aviation Authority has imposed strict flying restrictions around the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire. Until Saturday August 10, drones, kites, paramotors and parachutes are banned from flying below 1,000 feet within a one-mile radius of the site.
Meanwhile, Patrick Harvie, the outgoing co-leader of the Scottish Greens, told the Sunday Post, the trip needed to be protested.
He said: 'Donald Trump is a convicted criminal and extremist who works to undermine democracy and human rights at home and around the world.
'You should not and cannot appease someone like this. Nobody should be lending this increasingly fascist political project any credibility on the international stage. It must be opposed at every turn.
'Scotland has already made it amply clear that he isn't welcome here. And when he arrives in the coming weeks, Scotland will stand on the right side of history and make it amply clear once more.'
The Stop Trump Coalition has organised a 'festival of resistance' in Aberdeen on Saturday.
During his 2018 visit, tens of thousands take to the streets in Glasgow, Edinburgh and [[Aberdeen]].
During that trip, a paraglider flew over Trump's Turnberry resort carrying a banner that read 'Trump: well below par'.
Police later said the stunt had placed the individual in 'grave danger' due to the presence of armed officers protecting the president.
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Business leaders have urged ministers to use the visit to boost trade links with the US.
Dr Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, told The Sunday Post the visit was an opportunity: "This is about investment, exports and jobs, not politics.
"Scotland's exports, from whisky and salmon to renewables and fintech, are world class. The US is a key market, and now's the time to reinforce our value.
"We should be pushing for better trade terms, fewer barriers, and stronger commercial partnerships. This is about delivering real economic impact."
Guy Hinks, chair of the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland, said nearly 60% of Scottish exporters trade with the US, making it the most important market outside the EU.
'Scotland should be making the most of every advantage it has,' he said.
Mr Trump is expected to take part in the opening ceremony of a new course at his Balmedie resort, named after his Scottish-born mother, Mary Ann MacLeod.
The venue will also host two major tournaments in the weeks following his visit — the PGA Seniors Championship beginning Wednesday July 31 and the DP World Tour Next Championship on Wednesday August 7.
The visit will include meetings with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in [[Aberdeen]] and First Minister John Swinney.
Mr Trump, who last visited Scotland in 2023, is due to return to the UK in September for a state visit, where he will meet King Charles at Windsor Castle.
Speaking to the BBC last week, the President described the north-east of Scotland as 'the oil and gas capital of Europe' and called for a return to fossil fuels, saying: 'Get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil.'