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 2008. Hundreds of protesters 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 on a makeshift stage told the crowd that Trump was not welcome and they 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.”
“I think there are far too many countries that are feeling the pressure of Trump and that they feel that they have to accept him and we should not accept him here,” said June Osbourne, 52, a photographer and photo historian from Edinburgh who protested wearing a red cloak and white hood, recalling “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Osbourne held up picture of Trump with “Resist” stamped over his face.
The dual-U.S.-Scottish citizen said the Republican president was “the worst thing that has happened to the world, the U.S., in decades.”
Saturday’s protests were not nearly as large as the throngs that came out across Scotland when Trump played at the resort during his first term in 2018.
But bagpipes played, people chanted “Trump Out!” and raised homemade signs that said “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. Upon arriving in Scotland on Friday night, Trump admonished European leaders for not cracking down on immigration. “This immigration is killing Europe,” he said.
“You better get your act together,” Trump said. “You’re not going to have Europe anymore.”
While in Scotland, Trump is set to talk trade with Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president. But golf is a major focus.
The Trumps will also visit another Trump course, in the Aberdeen area in northeastern Scotland. They plan to cut a ribbon on Tuesday, opening the second Trump course.
The president has long lobbied for Turnberry to host the British Open, which it has not done since he took over ownership.
“There’s no place like it,” he said Friday night.
