Welcome to Turnberry, all snipers and pipers
SUDDENLY the bleeping walkie-talkies of the Secret Service agents are drowned out by applause. He’s here! The President of the United States – more than half an hour late – strides into the grand lobby of the Ayrshire hotel that bears his name.
The Donald, in all his combedover, perma-tanned glory, grins widely and waves as he greets staff and paying guests who have gathered to witness his arrival.
Behind him follows his wife Melania dressed down in a dark green Burberry hunting jacket and £20,000 Hermes Birkin handbag. Behind her, a burly US Navy officer in full dress-uniform – clutching luggage.
The checkpoints, the sniffer dogs, the snipers, the police officers from across the UK forced to cancel holidays – all for this moment: Donald Trump, in the Trump Turnberry hotel, beside an oil painting of the man himself hitting a ball down the Trump fairway, while a Trumpbranded helicopter sits on the lawn outside. Welcome to the very epicentre of Trump.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday checked in to the five-star resort on Friday to get a behind-thescenes glimpse of the President’s private trip to Scotland.
Right from the start, it was clear that a presidential visit means massively beefed-up security. Even getting to check in at reception was a daunting experience. Police – drafted in from Lancashire, Cheshire and South Wales – manned roadblocks outside the hotel grounds, screening every vehicle.
Officers wearing rubber gloves carried out a fingertip search of my car, while others peered under the chassis with torches and mirrors checking for explosives, as sniffer dogs circled.
Once my passport and printout of my reservation had been radioed through to reception, I was cleared to drive into the hotel grounds. Although the dozen men in dark suits patrolling the perimeter are not flashing their weapons, I’ve already seen the snipers with their high-powered rifles on a 20ft look-out tower nearby.
Past more police and a hotel ‘greeter’ in full Scottish regalia, the main lobby has also been fitted for the occasion with airportstyle body scanners and metal detectors – followed by complimentary pastries and iced water.
The actual guests are mostly middle-aged Americans on golfing breaks but there’s also a wedding party who booked their big day before realising their dates clashed with the Trump visit.
With staff in a frenzy of lastminute tidying and furniture-arranging, some police officers kill time by taking selfies on the hotel lawn beside a Trump helicopter – familiar to viewers of his TV show The Apprentice and now used by his son Eric.
The presence of the presidential entourage makes the atmosphere a little strained: to reach the spa suite (to discuss the prospect of a £180 hot-stone massage or a three-hour de-stress package for £229) I have to barge through 30 armed police.
Shortly before the President touched down in Air Force One at nearby Prestwick Airport, a warship patrolling the coast stopped and turned to point directly at the hotel, to the alarm of the wealthy golfers sitting at the tables outside, enjoying views of Ailsa Craig over a cold beer.
Excitement peaks, of course, when the President finally steps from the motorcade and walks into the lobby at around 9.20pm. Waving to guests, hotel staff and security personnel he stages a brief walkabout, shakes a few hands and offers a thumbs-up.
In a touching moment, the most powerful man in the world turns to his wife. ‘Honey,’ he asked. ‘Do you want to go out there? Do you want to go upstairs?’
The First Lady chose to join her husband on the terrace – with Eric – watching the sun set, as a piper played Highland Laddie and the Barren Rocks of Aden.
The most dramatic moment came as a powered paraglider flew right into the President’s field of view – bearing an unmissable 15ft yellow banner that read ‘Trump Well Below Par’.
Trump, his face set in a scowl, was escorted indoors until the invader flew away.
Later, the hotel rumour was that Eric held a dinner party at Turnberry lighthouse, home to the Halfway House restaurant.
Photos online show chefs barbecuing a vast selection of meats, and a haggis being piped in.
Meanwhile, the President bunked down in the main hotel.
For Trump, intense security has become the norm. But spare a thought for the bride unwittingly caught up in the storm: she even had to pass her wedding dress through the security scanner.