London [UK], July 27: Protesters insisted that US President Donald Trump is "not welcome here" as he took to the golf course on the 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. The outspoken Republican waved to journalists at one point, with hits including Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" and Elaine Paige's rendition of "Memory" from the musical "Cats" heard playing from his entourage.
But when asked about links to disgraced Jeffrey Epstein, the Simon and Garfunkel hit "Bridge Over Troubled Water" could be heard.
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.
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 SirKeir 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.
After touching down in Scotland in Air Force One on Friday night, the president was seen on the course at Turnberry on Saturday morning - although security fencing had also been erected around the resort, with road closures also in place to help protect Trump, who last year survived an assassination attempt.
Sniffer dogs were seen patrolling the golf course, with the Navy carrying out sweeps in the water beside the seaside course, while Army vehicles were spotted on the nearby A77 road.
Police Scotland has asked for support from other forces across the UK to bolster officer numbers for the high profile visit - with Mr Swinney appealing to people to protest "peacefully and within the law".
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, Ms 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 told the PA news agency: "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."
Harvie was also critical of the president, telling PA: "He's attacking our renewables industry once again, one of the success stories of Scotland, and he is trying to attack and undermine it.
"And that is after having trashed part of our natural environment on the Aberdeenshire coast to build his golf resort."
Anita Bhadani was one of those who organised the Stop Trump Coalition protest outside the US Consulate General's office in Edinburgh.She told PA: "We are really excited, across this whole weekend, there's so many campaign groups turning out in the streets, tacking in action in their communities or at rallies like this - it's kind of like a carnival of resistance."
She said Trump's "huge promises" of creating thousands of jobs through development around his Scottish golf courses had not come to pass. A number of speakers addressed the crowd, condemning President Trump, including one who chanted "death to the IDF."
Source: Qatar Tribune
