Protesters have insisted that Donald Trump is “not welcome here” as the US president played golf during his first full day of his visit to Scotland.
Tight security around the Trump Turnberry course meant no demonstrators were seen when the president took to the greens on Saturday morning.
Dressed in black, with a white cap that said USA on it, Trump could be seen driving a golf buggy, flanked by a fleet of security personnel, as he played on the famous course, which he bought in 2014.
Advertisement
To order your copy, send a WhatsApp message to +1 317 665 2180
However, hundreds gathered in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen – near the site of Trump’s other Scottish golf resort – to make their opposition to the president known.
Protesters express their outrage at Trump’s visit – and the amount it is costing the Scottish government
In Aberdeen, protesters in the city centre were seen waving banners with anti-Trump slogans – with one demonstrator even dressed as the president with a large papier mache head.
Some members of the crowd also showed their support for Palestine, waving Palestine flags.
As the visit got under way Scottish First Minister John Swinney – who is due to hold talks with the president later in the trip – announced public money to support a tournament at the Trump International golf links in Aberdeenshire.
The 2025 Nexo Championship – previously known as the Scottish Championship – is set to take place there next month, supported by £180,000 of public funding.
Swinney said: “The Scottish Government recognises the importance and benefits of golf and golf events, including boosting tourism and our economy.”
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 head to his golf resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire later on in his five-day long private visit.
As part of his trip he will also hold talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, where the two men will refine a trade deal between the UK and the US that was agreed earlier this year.
The president is also expected to talk trade with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday.
But with no talks apparently scheduled for Saturday, the president, who is well known for his love of golf, was free to take to the famous course at Turnberry.A major security operation surrounded him, with police officers and military personnel seen scouring the grounds ahead of Trump teeing off.
As he landed in Ayrshire on Friday, the president 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”.
In Aberdeen Green north east Scotland MSP Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: “We stand in solidarity not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for.”
Speaking about the US president, Chapman said: “He believes that climate change isn’t real, he believes that cutting services for those in the world with the least is the right thing to do.
“We say no to all of those things, not in our name, never in our name.”
With Trump having last year been convicted by a New York jury of falsifying business records, she said the president was a “convicted felon”.
And she said: “He is not welcome in Scotland, he is certainly not welcome in Aberdeenshire.
“We know that he is a convicted felon.
“We also know that all of the promises he has repeatedly made to Scotland have come to nothing, there hasn’t been the development of jobs or houses that he promised when he opened his course in Aberdeenshire a few years ago.”
