Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and
decry his visit
[July 28, 2025]
By WILL WEISSERT
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. tariffs on goods
imported from the U.K.
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.
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People take part in a Stop Trump Scotland protest outside the US
Consulate in Edinburgh, as US President Donald Trump begins his
five-day private trip to the country at his Turnberry golf course in
South Ayrshire on Saturday July 26, 2025. ( Jane Barlow /PA via AP)
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.
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