ALL THE PRESIDENT ’S CADDIES!
Scots golf course invaded by a horde of buggies, marksmen, Secret Service agents – and one ‘below par’ golfer
IT was billed as a relaxing day off for the US President at the end of his UK visit.
Yet this extraordinary picture shows the ring of steel surrounding Donald Trump as he enjoyed a game of golf during a ‘private’ break at his Scottish hotel.
Dozens of police officers wearing high-vis vests stood guard on the sand dunes that surround the Trump Turnberry resort – while plain-clothes US Secret Service operatives on foot and in golf buggies lined the fairway.
Out of shot, snipers were stationed on scaffolding towers – monitoring land, sea and sky – and roadblocks stopped passing motorists as part of the massive £5 million security operation, which required 5,000 police officers from across the UK.
Seemingly unfazed, a defiant Trump waved at an angry mob demonstrating on Turnberry beach as he teed off shortly after 1pm yesterday. Partaking in what he described on Twitter as his ‘primary
form of exercise’, the President could be seen smiling and laughing as he enjoyed a round on the championship Ailsa course.
Chants of ‘No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA’ rang out as the President, wearing a navy jumper and a white cap, passed in his golf buggy.
Linda Baird, a primary school teacher from Lanarkshire, who arrived on Turnberry beach at 9am yesterday to protest, said: ‘I can’t stand the man.
‘Every time he opens his mouth he offends someone. He should paying for his own security. He’s delusional to think people want him here – he’s not welcome.’
Rowena Brown, 51, from Ayr said: ‘I think this trip is to advertise his hotels and his brand globally. We need the rest of the world to know he is not welcome in Scotland.’
Last night, Police Scotland said officers were still hunting a Greenpeace activist who paraglided over the Ayrshire hotel with a banner reading, ‘Trump Well Below Par’.
The campaign group insisted the stunt on Friday was a ‘safe and responsible protest’.
However, officers said it breached the official air exclusion zone, which is a criminal offence, and the protester had put himself in ‘grave danger’ – risking being shot out of the sky by the security team.
Almost 10,000 anti-Trump protesters gathered at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh yesterday and hundreds of demonstrators waving Mexican flags turned out at Trump International Golf Links resort at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire – where Trump famously fell out with the
Scottish Government over an offshore windfarm.
Politicians who spoke at Holyrood included MSP Alison Johnstone of the Scottish Greens, part of the ‘Dump Trump’ Facebook campaign which helped organise the march.
She said: ‘This week in parliament I’ve had a couple of emails from folk saying, “I really don’t think you should go out there and speak, you’re just giving that attentionseeking man more attention”.’
A ‘Carnival of Resistance’ was set up Edinburgh’s Meadows, with a stage where poets, musicians, and speakers performed.
The now infamous ‘baby Trump’ balloon was flown above placards with messages including ‘Dump Trump’ and ‘Love Trumps Hate’.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams of Police Scotland confirmed last night that there had been no arrests, despite almost 15,000 people demonstrating over the weekend.
He said: ‘The detailed planning which took place in advance meant
the events passed without incident and I would like to thank everyone for their good behaviour.’
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon said she was slightly ‘tickled’ after reports that the US President ‘totally hates’ her and has ‘bitched’ about her to Theresa May.
Leading the Glasgow Pride march yesterday, the First Minister said: ‘I find it hard to believe the President of the United States, with all the big issues he has got to deal with every day, spends his time ranting down the phone to the Prime Minister about me.
‘If it is true then I take it as some kind of compliment.’
She added: ‘Scotland and the US are long-standing allies, friends and family with strong cultural and economic links that will endure regardless of who is First Minister or President of the United States.’
Ms Sturgeon insisted she was willing to meet Mr Trump, although any relationship between the two countries had to be based on ‘respect and honesty’.
‘He’s delusional to think people want him here’