EDINBURGH: President Donald Trump played golf Saturday at his course on Scotland’s coast while protesters around the country took to the streets to decry his visit and accuse United Kingdom leaders of pandering to the American.
Trump and his son Eric played with the US ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, near Turnberry, a historic course that the Trump family’s company took over in 2014. Security was tight, and protesters kept at a distance went unseen by the group during Trump’s round. He was dressed in black, with a white “USA” cap, and was spotted driving a golf cart.
The president appeared to play an opening nine holes, stop for lunch, then head out for nine more. By the middle of the afternoon, plainclothes security officials began leaving, suggesting Trump was done for the day.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the cobblestone and tree-lined street in front of the US Consulate about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital. Speakers told the crowd that Trump was not welcome and criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for striking a recent trade deal to avoid stiff US tariffs on goods imported from the UK
Protests were planned in other cities as environmental activists, opponents of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and pro-Ukraine groups loosely formed a “Stop Trump Coalition.” Anita Bhadani, an organizer, said the protests were “kind of like a carnival of resistance.”
Trump’s late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland and the president has suggested he feels at home in the country. But the protesters did their best to change that.
“I don’t think I could just stand by and not do anything,” said Amy White, 15, of Edinburgh, who attended with her parents. She held a cardboard sign that said “We don’t negotiate with fascists.” She said ”so many people here loathe him. We’re not divided. We’re not divided by religion, or race or political allegiance, we’re just here together because we hate him.”
Other demonstrators held signs of pictures with Trump and Jeffrey Epstein as the fervor over files in the case has increasingly frustrated the president.
In the view of Mark Gorman, 63, of Edinburgh, “the vast majority of Scots have this sort of feeling about Trump that, even though he has Scottish roots, he’s a disgrace.” Gorman, who works in advertising, said he came out “because I have deep disdain for Donald Trump and everything that he stands for.”
Saturday’s protests were not nearly as large as the throngs that demonstrated across Scotland when Trump played at Turnberry during his first term in 2018.
But, as bagpipes played, people chanted “Trump Out!” and raised dozens of homemade signs that said things like “No red carpet for dictators,” “We don’t want you here” and “Stop Trump. Migrants welcome.”
One dog had a sign that said “No treats for tyrants.”
Some on the far right took to social media to call for gatherings supporting Trump in places such as Glasgow.
Trump also plans to talk trade with Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president. But golf is a major focus.
The family will also visit another Trump course near Aberdeen in northeastern Scotland, before returning to Washington on Tuesday. The Trumps will cut the ribbon and play a new, second course in that area, which officially opens to the public next month.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who is also set to meet with Trump during the visit, announced that public money will go to staging the 2025 Nexo Championship, previously known as the Scottish Championship, at Trump’s first course near Aberdeen next month.
“The Scottish Government recognizes the importance and benefits of golf and golf events, including boosting tourism and our economy,” Swinney said.
At a protest Saturday in Aberdeen, Scottish Parliament member Maggie Chapman told the crowd of hundreds: “We stand in solidarity, not only against Trump but against everything he and his politics stand for.”
The president has long lobbied for Turnberry to host the British Open, which it has not done since he took over ownership.
In a social media post Saturday, Trump quoted the retired golfer Gary Player as saying Turnberry was among the “Top Five Greatest Golf Courses” he had played in as a professional. The president, in the post, misspelled the city where his golf course is located.