Latest news with #ScotlandVisit
Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Times
Trump's links to Scotland — from golf courses to family history
The White House has confirmed that President Trump will visit Scotland this week. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump will be in the country between July 25 and 29. The president will return to the UK in September for his second state visit. There had been speculation for months that the US president would visit the country this year to coincide with the opening of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. Police Scotland confirmed earlier this month that preparations were under way for the trip. The president's exact schedule has yet to be made public but appearances at his golf courses — Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire, where he is opening his second course — are planned. A meeting with Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, is also pencilled in with Trump suggesting that will involve talks about refinements to the trade deal between the UK and US. John Swinney, the Scottish first minister, will also spend time with the president during the visit. Trump's last visit to Scotland was in 2023 and his presence has previously resulted in protests around the country. Police Scotland have requested support from other forces around the UK for his latest trip. The Trump International Golf Links on the Aberdeenshire coast was opened in 2012 after a long planning battle. Donald Trump had purchased the site in 2006 with ambitions for a luxury golf resort but faced local opposition to the development. • What Trump protesters are preparing for his 'welcome' to Scotland A second 18-hole course, named the MacLeod course after Trump's mother, is opening this summer. The grand opening is believed to tie in with the president's visit. Despite having received praise from professional golfers and industry publications for the quality of the set-up, the Aberdeenshire venture has yet to make a profit. In 2023, the most recent publicly available accounts, it made a loss of £1.4 million. In 2014, the Trump Organisation bought the five-star Turnberry hotel and the three adjacent links courses in Ayrshire in a deal valued at about £40 million. Turnberry's Ailsa course has hosted the Open four times — most recently in 2009 when Stewart Cink won after a play-off with Tom Watson. Watson won the tournament on the course in 1977, with Greg Norman triumphing in 1986 and Nick Price in 1994. • My day at Trump Turnberry, where Maga pilgrims pay £1,000 a round The R&A, the golfing body that organises the Open, has cited the logistical challenges of taking the championship back to Ayrshire with concerns about how transport infrastructure and local accommodation would cope with the numbers of spectators expected to attend. However, talks between R&A officials and Eric Trump, the president's son, who oversees the family's golf interests in the UK, took place earlier this year. Turnberry booked a £3.8 million profit in 2023 on revenue of more than £23 million. The organisation has also introduced green fees in excess of £1,000 at peak times for people not staying at the resort. Yes, Mary Anne MacLeod was brought up on the Hebridean island of Lewis. She was born in 1912 in the village of Tong, where her father Malcolm ran a post office and small shop. Mary left Scotland in 1930 at the age of 18 to look for work in New York. Six years later she married Frederick Trump, a son of German migrants who had become a successful property developer. The fourth of their five children is now the US president. Mary became a US citizen in 1942. She died in 2000 at the age of 88. Members of her extended family still live on Lewis. Trump is expected to open a memorial to his mother at the MacLeod course. The hotel at the Aberdeenshire resort — the Trump MacLeod House and Lodge Hotel — is named after her. Several leaders of America have their roots in Scotland while others claim Scots-Irish lineage. Among those with direct links are the fifth president, James Monroe, whose paternal great-great-grandfather left Scotland for the US in the 17th century. William McKinley, the 25th president, had great-grandparents with Perthshire connections, while Woodrow Wilson's maternal grandfather, the Rev Thomas Woodrow, was from Paisley and emigrated to the US in 1835. It emerged in 1984 that Ronald Reagan also had Scottish heritage. His great-great-grandparents, Claud Wilson and Peggy Downie, were married in Paisley in 1807. Reagan's great-grandfather, John Wilson, was born in Renfrewshire and was involved in the whisky trade. The Wilson family left Scotland for Illinois in 1832. The current US vice-president, JD Vance, has claimed to have Scots-Irish ancestry, but genealogy experts and DNA evidence appears to question this lineage.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
What do we know about Donald Trump's visit to Scotland?
Donald Trump flies into Scotland on Friday for a four-day trip, his first visit to the UK since his US president is due to visit his golf resorts at Turnberry on the Ayrshire coast and Menie in White House has described the visit as a "private" trip and said he will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Scottish government has confirmed that First Minister John Swinney will also meet the is due to return to the UK for an official state visit in have already been raised about the scale of the visit and the security implications, with police representatives raising concern about both the costs involved and the impact on staffing. Why is President Trump coming to Scotland? The fact this is not an official state visit means President Trump is largely free to set his own main purpose appears to be to visit his two golf courses - Trump International at Menie in Aberdeenshire and Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire. Trump opened the former in 2012 and bought Turnberry two years has been a regular visitor to both courses over the years, the last time being in 2023 when he broke ground on a second course at the site in connections to Scotland are mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, was born and raised just outside Stornoway in the Isle of Lewis. A native Gaelic speaker, she moved to New York aged 18, where she later married businessman Fred president has visited her former home in Tong more than once and has often spoken of his love of his mother's home investments have brought jobs to both his businesses in Scotland, though the scale of these have been clear, however, is that he retains a close interest in them, though serving presidents are meant - by convention - to step back from running any businesses while occupying the White House. When is President Trump coming to Scotland? The president is expected to arrive some time on Friday, and travel back to the US on Tuesday 29 schedule has not been made public but he is expected to split his time between his two Scottish bases at Turnberry and length of the trip and the relative lack of programmed meetings is a contrast to the forthcoming state visit, which will be a much more formal affair, from 17 to 19 that occasion, he and First Lady Melania Trump will stay at Windsor Castle as the guests of the King and Queen. Who is President Trump meeting in Scotland? Earlier this month, the president's press secretary told reporters at the White House that Trump would meet the prime minister in "Aberdeen" on Monday. Karoline Leavitt said the meeting with Starmer would "refine the great trade deal that was brokered between the United States and the United Kingdom".However, the Menie resort is about 10 miles (16km) north of the city and Downing Street has yet to confirm details of the proposed meeting, including where it will take place and what will be later said he had decided to meet the president on his trip because it was in Scotland's interests to do so. He said there were a number of domestic and international issues which were of interest to the people of Scotland including the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, and the imposition of tariffs on products such as Scotch whisky.A Scottish government spokesperson said the president's visit would be an opportunity to "promote the interests of Scotland".Swinney previously said he did not see how September's state visit could go ahead in the wake of President Trump's showdown with Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House in Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie described John Swinney's decision to meet President Trump as "tragic".He said: "There can be no excuses for trying to cosy up to his increasingly fascist political agenda." What will President Trump's security be like? Presidential visits are enormous affairs and the security operation which will accompany Trump and his family is Force One - the president's jet - is a heavily-defended flying White House. The presidential motorcade, which includes two identical limousines and more than 20 other security and communications vehicles, is transported ahead of the visit by United States Air Force transport the ground, the president travels in Cadillac One - an armoured, high-powered enhanced limousine known as "The Beast". And there will have to be an enhanced police presence, taken from the ranks of the host country's own forces. For the last state visit in June 2019, more than 6,300 UK police officers were deployed at a cost to London's Metropolitan Police of £3.4m. A previous four-day working visit in 2018 cost more than £ 2018 trip to Scotland is thought to have seen more than 5,000 officers deployed, with the UK Treasury chipping in about £5m to help with the there are already concerns about how much this "private" trip will cost Scotland, especially against a backdrop of police complaints about spending on the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), which represents rank-and-file officers, has raised concerns about what the Trump visit will mean for its Scotland confirmed it was preparing for a presidential visit earlier this Scottish government said it had been working with the national force to put plans in place, with thousands of officers likely to be deployed as part of the security operation. Will there be protests against President Trump? President Trump is probably the most high-profile individual ever to visit Scotland. He's also at constant was an attempt on his life during the 2024 election and a man has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president after being found with a rifle at a golf course in Florida in September are at the higher end of the risks facing security teams guarding the most powerful man on of the coming visit's police resources will be taken up with balancing the right to democratic protest with the president and his entourage's ability to travel safely around last presidential visit made by Trump in 2018 required a major security operation, with thousands protesting in Glasgow, Edinburgh and was booed during an afternoon game of golf by demonstrators gathered along the the perimeter at Turnberry.A paraglider also flew over the hotel with a banner criticising the will undoubtedly be more protests this time around. Among those who have vowed to be out on the streets is Scottish Green leadership contender Ross Greer, who called the president a "dangerous extremist".He told the BBC that he would be protesting "in solidarity with the people in the US and across the world who are already suffering as a result of Donald Trump".Police Scotland have said they have the resources to deal with whatever the visit brings.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
When will Donald Trump next visit the UK?
Donald Trump will visit Scotland next week, the White House has confirmed, ahead of a separate state visit to the UK in just under two month's time. His trip will require a huge policing operation, particularly given that some protesters have said they plan to turn out to make the US president less than welcome. It will be the first time Trump has visited the country since 2023, when he and his son Eric played a new 18-hole course at his Trump International golf resort in Aberdeenshire. Speculation had been mounting about a potential visit by the president when Police Scotland confirmed it was in the early stages of planning for such an event. Here's what we know about Trump's travel plans so far. When does Trump arrive in Scotland? Confirming the president's visit at a briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would arrive in Scotland on Friday. He will visit both of his golf courses in the country – Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire – between 25-29 of July, she told reporters. It has already been confirmed that Trump will meet with prime minister Sir Keir Starmer while in Aberdeen. 'During the visit, president Trump will meet again with prime minister Starmer to refine the great trade deal that was brokered between the United States and the United Kingdom,' said Leavitt. The Scottish government said plans were also being put in place for the president to meet first minister John Swinney. Last week Swinney said it is in "Scotland's interest" for him to meet Trump, adding that he had an "obligation" to "protect and promote" the country, adding that he would use the meeting to discuss tariffs, Gaza and Ukraine. There had also been speculation the King would host Trump in Scotland at Balmoral or Dumfries House, after Charles wrote a letter to him in February inviting him to a state visit. However, it is understood with the state visit not long after the proposed meeting both sides decided to wait until the formal gathering. Are there any Trump protests? Pro-Palestinian protesters, climate activists and trade unions have teamed up to form a "Stop Trump Coalition" ahead of the president's visit. The group is planning on getting as close to Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course as possible and drawing a huge insulting message on the beach outside, according to the Sunday Times. 'We anticipate he will be flying in, possibly on a helicopter. We'll make sure from the air that he will see our presence," trade unionist Tommy Campbell told the newspaper. 'We want to make sure that there's no red carpet laid out for him when he comes to Scotland... I can't take away the fact that his mother is Scottish. But he's certainly not Scottish.' Campbell said the group is confident it will attract hundreds of protesters and is "aiming for more", which is likely to put pressure on an already under resourced Police Scotland. The Scottish Police Federation, which represents 98% of Police Scotland officers, is reportedly seeking legal advice about the president's visit over concerns the force does not have capacity to manage the event. General secretary David Kennedy told STV: "We do not have enough police officers in Scotland. Anyone that says we do, I don't know where they get those figures from." What has Trump said about the UK recently? The so-called "special relationship" between the UK and the US is arguably often overstated, but Starmer has been working to strengthen ties with his American counterpart since entering office. During the G7 summit in Canada last month, the two leaders hammered out the outline of a trade agreement that would see tariffs on British cars and slashed from 25% to 10% and a removal of tariffs on aerospace goods. Speaking at the meeting of world leaders, Trump said: 'The UK is very well protected, you know why? Because I like them. That's their ultimate protection.' Praising Starmer for his leadership in an interview with the BBC in January, Trump described the prime minister as a "very good guy". "I may not agree with his philosophy, but I have a very good relationship with him," he added. Last week Trump waded into British energy policy, telling the BBC that the north-east of Scotland – the oil and gas capital of Europe – should 'get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil'. There has also been some tension between the UK and key figures of the Trump administration, however, with vice president JD Vance claiming in February that free speech in the country was "in retreat". Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he also said Brexit voters had been betrayed by elites opening 'the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants', the Telegraph reported. When is Trump's historic state visit? The president will return to the UK between 17 and 19 September for an unprecedented second state visit. Other world leaders have visited Britain multiple times, but Trump will be the first elected leader in modern history to be invited for two state visits, following his first in 2019. Some, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, called for the trip to be rescheduled so Trump would visit while Parliament was sitting, giving the president a chance to make a speech to the Houses. However, earlier this month, Trump told the BBC he didn't want MPs to be forced to return on his account, telling the broadcaster: "I think let them go and have a good time." He said his plans for th visit were to "have a good time and respect King Charles, because he's a great gentleman". The full details of the visit have not yet been released, but it will include a full ceremonial welcome and a state banquet at St George's Hall in Windsor Castle. Meanwhile, anti-Trump campaigners have said they plan to stage a mass demonstration in central London on the first day of his trip. Read more Scots police federation consider legal action over planning for Donald Trump visit (The Daily Record) New US Visa fee is introduced - are holidaymakers from the UK impacted? (The London Standard) Protesters warn JD Vance 'resistance will be waiting' as he prepares for Cotswolds family holiday (The Independent)
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
White House reveals when Donald Trump will land in Scotland next week - and confirms he will talk trade with Keir Starmer while in the UK
Donald Trump will touch down in Scotland next Friday for a five-day private visit, the White House has confirmed. The US president is crossing the Atlantic to see his golf clubs in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, but will find time between rounds to also speak to Sir Keir Starmer. Speaking at a briefing in Washington DC on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Mr Trump will be in Scotland between July 25 and 29. It has already been confirmed Mr Trump will meet the Prime Minister while in Aberdeen, while plans are also being put in place for a meeting with First Minister John Swinney, according to the Scottish Government. The trip is an unusual one in that most presidents put their business interests to one side while in the White House. 'President Trump will travel to Scotland, where he will visit both Turnberry and Aberdeen, from July 25 to July 29,' Ms Leavitt said. 'During the visit, President Trump will meet again with Prime Minister Starmer to refine the great trade deal that was brokered between the United States and the United Kingdom.' There had been a disagreement over whether Tata Steel's products would be covered, as it is currently finishing foreign-produced metal while blast furnaces are updated. The US also had concerns about Chinese involvement in British Steel, the Times reported. Trump told American reporters earlier this week that the pair will have a meeting 'probably in Aberdeen' during his private visit to Scotland. In a BBC News interview, the president said he and Sir Keir will 'refine' the recent trade deal struck between the UK and the US. Speaking during a visit to Rutherglen, Mr Swinney said Scots would expect him to meet a US president visiting Scotland. Earlier this week, Mr Trump said Aberdeen was the 'oil capital of Europe'. 'They have so much oil there,' he said. 'They should get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil.
