Security is tightening as Donald Trump plays Golf in Turnberry

A major security operation has accelerated while Donald Trump played golf on the first day of his private visit to Scotland.

The American president unclogs to his luxury station Trump Turnberry in southern Ayrshire around 10:00 am, having arrived at Prestwick airport on Friday evening.

The day passed without incident, while hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Aberdeen and Edinburgh to protest against the visit.

Trump is expected to meet British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish Prime Minister John Swinney in the coming days, as well as the opening of a second 18 -hole course in his succession in the Aberdeenshire.

The president said it was “great to be in Scotland” and praised the leaders of the two governments.

Questions have already been raised on the scale of the visit and the security implications, police representatives raising concerns concerning the costs involved and the impact on the staff.

Journalists, photographers and plane observers were part of the crowds that gathered to see Air Force One Touch in Prestwick just before 8:30 p.m. Friday.

Trump was greeted by Scottish secretary Ian Murray and Warren Stephens, American ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The president spoke with journalists before a motorcycle made up of more than two dozen vehicles escorted him in Turnberry.

A number of roads have been closed in the region and police and the military staff have scanned in the station.

A security checkpoint was set up outside the hotel and a large fence was erected around the route – although some golfers were able to use the Ailsa route from 07:30.

Trump played his golf handle with his son Eric, as well as the United States ambassador Warren Stephens and his son. Entourage included 15 other golf strollers.

A tour during the summer peak can cost £ 1,000 in Turnberry.

There was no sign of demonstrators around the course.

Trump praised the photographers who had gathered on a beach dune for a point of view while he was heading for the fourth tee.

The White House said that her son Donald Trump Jr also accompanied him for the weekend.

While Trump was on the fairways, public members showed their frustrations towards the president’s policy, including his opinions on climate change and his position on the conflict between Israel and Gaza, against demonstrations in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Many demonstrators wore panels referring to an explanative slogan made infamous by the late actor Janey Godley in 2018.

Anita Bhadani was one of those who helped organize the protest of the Stop Trump coalition outside the Consulate General Bureau in Edinburgh.

She said: “We are really excited, throughout this weekend, there are so many campaign groups that take place in the streets, which take their action in their communities or in gatherings like this. It is a bit like a resistance carnival.”

During the Rally of Aberdeen, the demonstrator Nicola Seal said: “We should not host him. It costs large amounts of taxpayers, sucking huge quantities of police resources.”

The members of the Maidens Bowling Club in Girvan were more sympathetic to the president – when they said that they did not agree with all his opinions and thought that he should pay the security operation, they also challenged him to visit a friendly game of Boules.

Trump’s Golf series coincided with an announcement from the Scottish government that £ 180,000 in public funding will support a tournament to be held on its Aberdeenshire journey next month.

The Nexo 2025 championship on the DP World Tour takes place at Trump International Golf Links from August 7 to 10.

John Swinney said the cash boost has shown that the government “recognizes the importance and benefits of golf in the country.

He added: “As a golf home, we have a long -standing support assessment and I am proud that this funding will still improve the reputation of Aberdeenshire as a leading golf destination and I hope to ensure other golf events in the years to come.”

The co-leader of Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie, compared the allocation of public money to the tournament to “put pocket money to the intimidation of the school”.

Trump should meet Swinney on Monday, the same day that he will see Starmer.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet the president on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations.

The American president will return to Washington on Tuesday and are expected to return to the United Kingdom for an official state visit in September.

In his remarks to the press of Prestwick, Trump said that European countries had to “collect your act” on migration, and “stop the windmills”, referring to wind farms.

In 2019, his company Trump International lost a long legal battle to prevent wind development from building in the North Sea off Aberdeen.

Trump argued that the project, which included 11 wind turbines, would spoil the view from his golf course in Menie.

Swinney said that his meeting with Trump would present the opportunity to “express himself essentially for Scotland” on issues such as trade and the increase in the United States in Scotland.

The Prime Minister said that he would also raise “important international questions”, in particular “the horror of the situation in Gaza”.

He urged those who take place to protest against the president’s visit to do so “peacefully and do it in law”.

Scotland visits by sitting down the American presidents are rare.

Queen Elizabeth welcomed Dwight from Eisenhower to Balmoral in Aberdeenshire in 1957.

George W Bush went to Gleneagles in Perthshire for a G8 summit in 2005 and Joe Biden attended a climate conference in Glasgow in 2021.

The only other president in the service to visit this century is Trump himself in 2018 when he was welcomed by demonstrators, including a steering wheel a low paraglider on Turnberry, breaking the air exclusion area around the station.

He returned in 2023, two and a half years after being defeated by Biden.

Trump will have an official state visit to the United Kingdom in September when he and First Lady Melania Trump will be organized by King Charles at the Château de Windsor in Berkshire.

This is the second state visit that was offered – the American presidents of the second mandate are traditionally not state visits and were rather invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, generally to the castle of Windsor.