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Trump takes time out to open Scottish golf course

Video caption, As Donald Trump heads to Scotland, what to expect from his visit
Article Information
Author, James Cook
Role, Scotland editor
24 July 2025
Updated 6 hours ago
Donald Trump flies into Scotland later to visit two golf resorts which he owns in the country where his mother was born.
He will travel to Turnberry in South Ayrshire, a world-class venue he bought in 2014, and to Menie in Aberdeenshire to open a new 18-hole course.
The White House says Trump will also meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss trade while he is in the UK.
The trip is exceptional as US presidents rarely promote their personal interests so publicly while in office.
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It is not the first time that Trump has been accused of conflating his own affairs with the nation’s.
Even so, with Gaza and Ukraine in flames, the dollar on the slide and questions mounting about his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s decision to focus on golf has raised eyebrows.
A photo of Donald trump on stage in Las Vegas in 2015. He is wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt and a red tie. In the background is an American flag
IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS
Image caption, In Las Vegas a decade ago Trump was keen to promote his Scottish golf courses
I witnessed Trump’s unconventional attitude first hand right at the start of his political career when I met him on the campaign trail in 2015. The Republicans were searching for a candidate who could win back the presidency after Barack Obama’s two terms in office.
Trump strode off the debate stage in a glitzy Las Vegas hotel and into a room packed with cameras.
Jostling for position, I asked the man with the long red tie a couple of questions and, after boasting about his status as frontrunner in the race, he told me he had a message for the UK.
This will make news, I thought. Maybe something about immigration, Trump’s signature campaign topic?
It was not. Instead Trump wanted BBC viewers to know that he had some fine golf courses on Scotland’s shores which they should visit.
The answer struck me as remarkable for a man aspiring to become the so-called leader of the free world.
A sepia image of Mary An MacLeod from 1932. She is 20 years old and lounging on the steps of a house.
IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Donald Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, grew up on the Isle of Lewis before emigrating to America
Of course Trump does have a genuine link to Scotland.
His Gaelic-speaking mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born in 1912 on the island of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides and left during the Great Depression for New York where she married property developer Fred Trump.
Their son’s return to Scotland for four days this summer comes ahead of an official state visit in September when the president and First Lady Melania Trump will be hosted by King Charles at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
Trump is not scheduled to see the King on this visit but it is not entirely private either as he will meet Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney as well as the prime minister.
Business leaders, including Scotch whisky producers, are urging Starmer and Swinney to use their meetings with Trump to lobby for a reduction in US taxes on imports, known as tariffs.
A map of Scotland showing Menie in the north east and Turnberry in the south
A huge security operation, which has been under way for weeks, has been scaled up in recent days.
Giant transport aircraft carrying military hardware, including the president’s helicopters, known when he is on board by the call sign Marine One, have been spotted at Aberdeen and Prestwick airports.
Roads and lanes in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire have been secured and closed.
Airspace restrictions have been issued.
Police reinforcements have been heading north across the England-Scotland border.
Visits to Scotland by sitting US presidents are rare.
Queen Elizabeth hosted Dwight D Eisenhower at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire in 1957. George W Bush travelled to Gleneagles in Perthshire for a G8 summit in 2005 and Joe Biden attended a climate conference in Glasgow in 2021.
The only other serving president to visit this century is Trump himself in 2018 when he was met by protesters including one flying a paraglider low over Turnberry, breaching the air exclusion zone around the resort.

Donald Trump flies into Scotland later to visit two golf resorts which he owns in a country where his mother was born. He will travel to Turnberry in South Asir, a world-class venue he bought in 2014 and to Mini and Aberdine to open a new 18hole course. The White House says Trump will also meet Prime Minister Sir Kir Starmer to discuss trade while he is in the UK. The trip is exceptional as US presidents rarely promote their personal interests so publicly while in office. Advertisement It is not the first time that Trump has been accused of conflating his own affairs with the nations. Even so, with Gaza and Ukraine in flames, the dollar on the slide, and questions mounting about his ties to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s decision to focus on golf has raised eyebrows. A photo of Donald Trump on stage in Las Vegas in 2015. He is wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt, and a red tie. In the background is an American