A President Facing Headwinds – Donald Trump's Visit to Scotland Amid Protest, Golf Politics, and Lingering Shadows

Donald Trump is back in Scotland – not as a mere businessman, but as President of the United States. For five days, he will stay at his two golf resorts in Turnberry and Aberdeen, accompanied by a massive entourage of security personnel, advisers, press, and supporters. But what might seem like a home game – after all, Trump’s mother hails from the region – is in fact a political minefield. From all sides, he is met with criticism, protests, and doubt. The Scottish press is already speaking of the “convicted US felon” who is now visiting his mother’s homeland.

The start of the visit is unspectacular, almost casual. On Friday evening, Trump lands with Air Force One at Prestwick Airport, near Glasgow. From there, he heads directly to Turnberry, where he initially withdraws from the public eye. Officially, to prepare for the inauguration of his new golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire – the so-called "MacLeod Course," named after his Scottish-born mother Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. But behind the scenes, things are buzzing: meetings with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are planned, dealing with nothing less than a possible trade agreement – a diplomatic tug-of-war that has stalled for weeks.

Reactions in Scotland are clear. Protests have been announced in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dumfries. The Stop Trump Coalition, a broad alliance of trade unions, environmental activists, Palestinian and Ukrainian groups, as well as members of the US diaspora, is calling for nationwide demonstrations. Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney announced that he would personally address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza with Trump – and at the same time made it clear that the Scottish government does not welcome this visit. Police are expecting several thousand demonstrators and have launched a major operation, supported by British police units.

Resistance to Trump is not new. Thousands had already taken to the streets during earlier visits. But this time, an additional shadow hangs over the trip: the reignited Epstein affair. Just one day before his departure, Trump’s Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell – the woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child abuse and is considered a central figure in the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein. When asked whether Trump was considering a pardon for Maxwell, he responded evasively: “I haven’t thought about it. I’m allowed to do it, but I haven’t.” Observers suspect political calculation – especially since Maxwell’s statements could either exonerate or incriminate Trump.

Trump himself is trying to downplay the issue. “I have nothing to do with the guy,” he said about Epstein. “I never went to the island.” Yet his name appears in the released documents, and old letters to Epstein, including a sketched image of a naked woman, are making headlines. The Wall Street Journal was abruptly removed from the press pool for the Scotland trip – a reaction to that very article. It is a case study in media control and selective access that reminds many of Trump’s earlier term in office.

he focus is also on Trump’s economic self-interest. The golf courses operated by the Trump Organization in Scotland have been chronically unprofitable in the past. The inauguration of the new course in Aberdeen is now supposed to bring the long-awaited upswing. But the project itself is highly controversial: construction on sensitive dune landscapes has met with fierce opposition from environmentalists and residents. In particular, fisherman Michael Forbes became internationally known because he refused to sell his property to Trump – a conflict that has gone down in the region’s history. Forbes still lives where Trump once had only scorn: “a slum and a pigsty.”

Meanwhile, Trump continues his diplomatic agenda. On Sunday, he will meet with von der Leyen to discuss the future of transatlantic trade. The background is a tariff wave announced by Trump for August 1, which would massively increase the cost of European products – from French cheese to Spanish medications. Brussels has already prepared countermeasures totaling over 100 billion dollars. Trump also wants to negotiate exemptions for British steel with Starmer. The meeting is supposed to take place, as he himself said, “probably at one of my properties” – another indication of the deliberate blurring of lines between state affairs and private business.

Trump’s relationship with Scotland remains divided. Many view his visit as an affront, while others at least praise his investments. “He created jobs,” says a local resident in Turnberry. “But politically, I want nothing to do with him.” Even the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews remains silent: a return of the British Open to Turnberry – something Trump has been pursuing for years – is currently not planned due to “infrastructure problems.”

In September, Trump will return to the United Kingdom for a second state visit – a rarity in American diplomacy. For him, it is a stage for self-promotion. For many others, it is further proof of how deeply politics, business, and justice overlap in his person.

In Scotland, at any rate, the reception remains frosty. And the wind blowing across the dunes of Turnberry and Aberdeen carries more than just salt and sand – it carries resistance, doubt, and a quiet but determined voice of defiance.

(Photos: Kaizen Blog and Alastair Grant)

Investigative journalism requires courage, conviction – and your support.