- Donald Trump faces backlash from Scots during private golf trip
- Protesters cite Epstein ties, Gaza policy, and call him “unwelcome”
- Locals question why taxpayers are funding security for his visit
Hundreds of Scots took to the streets and golf resorts over the weekend in fierce protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland branding him a “convicted felon” and accusing him of misusing his Scottish heritage.
Eko Hot Blog Trump, who arrived Friday night at Glasgow airport for a private stay, was immediately met with heavy security, protest banners and chants demanding his deportation. The former U.S. leader is golfing in Turnberry, where his late mother once lived, but locals say he’s not welcome.
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“Why on earth is this convicted felon allowed to come into our country and play golf when the people do not like him?” asked Niamh Cunvin-Smith, 25, who joined a demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Another protester waved a sign that read, “Scotland is already great,” poking at Trump’s infamous “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Among those in protest was one of Trump’s distant relatives, Janet MacLeod-Trotter, who said many in their MacLeod clan are “ashamed” of his actions and the decision to link their name to a new golf course in Aberdeenshire.
“He doesn’t help the people of Lewis where his mother came from,” she said. “He just comes over to buy up golf courses and line his own pockets.”
Trump, whose mother was born in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, is expected to inaugurate the new course in her honour this weekend. However, his presence has triggered anger across the country.
Photos of Trump with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein also resurfaced during the protests, with some banners showing both men side by side. Last week, a fake sign claiming Trump’s resort was “twinned with Epstein Island” mysteriously appeared outside one of his properties.
When asked about the Epstein files upon arrival, Trump dismissed the issue. “You’re making a very big thing over something that’s not a big thing,” he told reporters. “I’m focused on making deals.”
But anger lingers especially over the cost of his visit. Police forces across the U.K. have been drafted to secure his movements in Scotland, with the budget expected to run into millions.
“So much has been spent on him being here, and I don’t know what the benefit is,” said Kerry Walsh, a visitor from Glasgow.
Trump is scheduled to meet U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Scottish First Minister John Swinney and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before leaving on Tuesday. Trade talks are expected to dominate the meetings, with Trump touting a U.S.-EU deal as potentially “the biggest of them all.”
This trip is private, but Trump will return in September for a formal state visit with King Charles III an unprecedented second royal invite following his first in 2019 with the late Queen Elizabeth II.
