Latest news with #golfcourse
Telegraph
40 minutes ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
‘Twinned with Epstein Island' sign appears on Trump's Scottish golf course
Protesters sabotaged Donald Trump's golf course in Aberdeenshire with a placard that claimed the luxury resort was 'twinned with Epstein Island'. The stunt was staged by the political campaign group Everyone Hates Elon as the US president faces renewed scrutiny over his past links to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and sex offender who died in 2024. The Trump administration has requested that grand jury records related to the 2019 indictment of Epstein be released. Mr Trump has strongly denied allegations in an article published by The Wall Street Journal on July 17 that alleged he had written a 'bawdy' birthday note to Epstein in 2003. The message was said to have included a drawing of a naked woman, followed by a note that read: 'Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Mr Trump has taken legal action against the publication. In a video posted on Instagram on Monday, Everyone Hates Elon showed an unknown figure placing the placard at the Balmedie course. The group also claimed responsibility for placing an image of Mr Trump alongside one of Epstein at a bus stop in Nine Elms, London, near the US Embassy last week. It posted a video of the image being installed, saying: 'It would be such a shame for Donald if this photo of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein appeared absolutely everywhere on his tour of the UK. It would truly be such a huge shame if everyone donated to make that happen.' The US president is due to arrive in Scotland later this week and visit both his golf courses in the country – Turnberry in Ayrshire and Balmedie – but concerns have been raised about the policing operation required. The last time Mr Trump visited Scotland – while he was no longer in office – substantial protests sprang up. Police Scotland expects similar protests in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Ayrshire. Mr Trump is expected to meet both Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, and John Swinney, Scotland's First Minister, during his time in Scotland. All of Police Scotland's liaison officers are expected to be required to handle protests during the visit and mutual aid has been requested from other forces to help, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Mr Swinney said talks were still ongoing about how costs would be handled for the visit, but said that Scotland's police force would not suffer as a result. The First Minister's comments came as a senior police officer urged people planning to protest against Mr Trump's visit to follow the law. Asst Chief Constable Emma Bond encouraged protest groups to discuss their plans with police ahead of the visit. She said: 'As you can imagine, it is a large-scale, complex operation, but actually that's something that Police Scotland is immensely experienced at doing.' The policing plan involves local, national and specialist officers from Police Scotland as well as other forces. She said: 'The key very much is to make sure the President of the United States can come, enjoy a peaceful and safe visit to Scotland and ensure Police Scotland is able to maintain delivery of services to the rest of the community within Scotland over the period of his visit.'
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Police Scotland deny putting pressure on staff over ‘complex' Trump visit
The senior officer in charge of the policing plan for Donald Trump's visit to Scotland this weekend has underlined her force's 'immense experience' in successfully managing US presidential visits as she countered concerns raised by the policing union about unfair pressure on staff. Trump will open a new 18-hole golf course at his resort on the North Sea coast at Menie, north of Aberdeen, named in honour of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who was born on the Isle of Lewis. He is also expected to meet the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, during his visit. Assistant chief constable Emma Bond told media on Tuesday that the 'large-scale, complex' operation would be the largest in Scotland since the death of Elizabeth II in 2022, and would include local officers, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support. Bond, who is gold commander for the policing plan, said the force was also in direct communication with US Secret Service and their priority was to ensure the president 'enjoys a peaceful and safe visit to Scotland' while maintaining policing services for the rest of the population. On Monday, representatives of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, raised concerns that there were insufficient officer numbers to support the plan and said they were seeking legal advice with some staff already under pressure to work longer hours in breach of workplace agreements. Bond said that senior commanders 'fully recognise' the concerns raised by the policing union and were working with them to address those. 'I'm confident as gold commander that we can deliver the strategy as set out,' she added. While she refused to confirm the specific numbers of officers to be involved, a request for 'mutual aid' has been made by Police Scotland to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Bond used the briefing to set out the force's plans for policing the 'significant' protests expected to accompany Trump's visit. She noted the 'thousands' who took to the streets during his last visit in 2018, which saw gatherings in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen as well as flying over the US president's Turnberry golf club. She said Police Scotland's starting point was a 'positive and engaged approach', but added: 'Let me be very clear: abusive threatening behaviour, any activity that seeks to disrupt an event or that puts the safety of the public at risk is not lawful protest.' Bond said the force was keen to engage with protest groups in advance but that it had not yet spoken to the Stop Trump Coalition, one of the main organisers, which has called for people to gather in Edinburgh and Aberdeen on Saturday.
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Marine One arrives as Scotland gears up for Trump's visit... while back home he targets old foe Obama in bizarre AI generated posts
Scotland was gearing up for the visit of US President Donald Trump yesterday as US military aircraft gathered at Prestwick Airport. The huge security operation began in earnest at the Ayrshire hub as US military planes and helicopters gathered ahead of his arrival on Friday. Two US Army C17A Globemaster aircraft arrived carrying what was thought to be the S92 Marine One Presidential Helicopter. The helicopter was spotted flying out from the HMS Gannet airbase at Prestwick yesterday in test flights around Ayrshire with US servicemen. Last week the President claimed the UK needed to 'get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil' as he announced he will meet Sir Keir Starmer in Aberdeen. Mr Trump hit out at the renewables drive as he prepared for his four-day private visit to open his latest golf course in Aberdeenshire. Confirming the talks with Sir Keir, the President said his 'state meeting with the Prime Minister' will be 'up in Aberdeen, which is the oil capital of Europe'. He added: 'They should bring it back too. They have so much oil there. They should get rid of the energy windmills and bring back the oil.' The 79-year-old already owns two Scottish golf courses, one in Menie, Aberdeenshire, as well as Turnberry, in Ayrshire, where it is thought he will be staying. His latest golf links is named the MacLeod Course after his mother Mary, who was born on Lewis. It comes as Trump marked his six-month anniversary in office by posting a string of bizarre videos, including an AI-generated clip of Barack Obama being arrested at the White House and a fake mugshot of him. The US leader told the former President to 'lawyer up' following disclosures linking Obama-era officials to the origins of the FBI Russia investigation. The tirade came after Trump administration officials and conservative media widely promoted declassified documents suggesting Mr Obama played a central role in what Mr Trump has called the 'Russia hoax', the investigation into his administration's ties to the foreign adversary. The doctored video portrayed Mr Obama in an orange jumpsuit, accompanied by the message 'No one is above the law'. The footage, created by a little-known TikTok user, was one of dozens of posts uploaded to Mr Trump's Truth Social account. A separate video with a grim reaper figure describes the most 'co-ordinated political deception in US history' regarding Mr Obama's meeting with top intelligence officials to undermine Mr Trump's original election. 'Intelligence was politicised at the highest levels under the direction of a sitting president to frame the incoming one,' the ominous figure declares. 'It was a soft coup.' Last week, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a cache of declassified documents from the final weeks of the Obama administration, alleging they expose a 'treasonous conspiracy' to undermine Trump after his 2016 victory. Several of Mr Trump's posts featured clips of Gabbard calling for Mr Obama to be prosecuted over claims of Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Decision over Highworth golf course housing plans to stand
A controversial decision to progress plans for housing on a former golf course will stand, a scrutiny committee has Swindon Borough Council voted to proceed with a feasibility study for 700 homes on the old golf course in Highworth, Wiltshire, in the decision was reexamined by the council's Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday after Conservative councillors used a rare protocol known as a call-in to ask the council to check if proper procedure was leader Jim Robbins told the meeting the project was in the "pre-planning process" stage and a final decision would be made at a later date. The "extraordinary meeting" was called after some opposition councillors cited issues with how the decision to progress the plans to the next stage was made, including that it was not clear whether the cabinet had read the report on the Robbins said it was "simply untrue" to suggest they had not read the papers and "knew nothing about the issue".Closed in 2019, the golf course land has been owned by the council since the resident groups and the town council want the area to officially become a nature park. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, at some points, the meeting became heated, with chairman councillor Dale Heenan warning some members of the public after intemperate councillor Steve Weisinger asked for the decision to be returned to the cabinet, but only after the Build a Greener Swindon policy and performance committee had discussed and produced a detailed report on the ward member Nick Gardiner said the decision was "legally shaky, financially short-sighted and environmentally backwards", saying the loss of green open space would have a negative impact on residents and asked for it to be returned for councillor Kevin Small, the cabinet member responsible for the plan, said "even with 700 houses", around "58 per cent of the site will remain as green open space".Mr Heenan pressed Mr Small to assure the committee that no final decision on houses would be taken before a further report was made to cabinet, Mr Small confirming the cabinet would make the final committee voted to confirm the cabinet's decision with voting falling along party lines.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
There may be carnage at Calamity Corner, Royal Portrush's brutal but beautiful par 3
The hole features a steep ravine to the right of the green, making recovery difficult.
