Mary McCool
BBC Scotland News
Getty Images
Donald Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire in 2023
Police have confirmed they are preparing for a potential visit by US President Donald Trump to Scotland later this month.
He is expected to visit a new course at his golf resort in Aberdeenshire, though it is understood there will be no private meeting with King Charles.
Trump will also make a full state visit to the UK later in the year, most likely in September.
Assistant chief constable Emma Bond of Police Scotland said: “Planning is under way for a potential visit to Scotland later this month by the President of the United States.”
She added: “While official confirmation has not yet been made, it is important that we prepare in advance for what would be a significant policing operation.”
The Trump Organisation owns Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire and the Trump Turnberry resort in Ayrshire.
If the visit goes ahead, it would be the first time Donald Trump has travelled to Scotland since his victory in the US election.
His last visit as president in 2018 required a major security operation with thousands protesting in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Donald Trump was booed at Turnberry on his visit in 2018
Eric Trump and his father broke ground on the 18-hole links MacLeod Course at the Trump International resort in Menie in 2023.
Trump International claimed the new course – named after Trump’s Lewis-born mother, Mary – would feature the “largest sand dunes in Scotland” alongside the original course, completed in 2012.
The resort has prompted controversy in the past – five years ago the dunes at Menie lost their status as a nationally-important protected environment.
However, Trump International claimed the course was “one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable” ever built.
The Scottish Green Party previously said Trump was “not welcome in Aberdeenshire” and accused him of being a climate-change denier with a “history of lies and dodgy business dealings”.
During his 2018 visit, Trump was booed during an afternoon game of golf by demonstrators gathered at the perimeter of the Turnberry resort.
A paraglider also flew over the hotel with a banner criticising the president.
Trump International
Trump cut the ribbon to begin work on the second course in Aberdeenshire on his 2023 visit
Last month Buckingham Palace confirmed a state visit invitation, signed by the King, had been sent to Trump at the White House.
“His Majesty has known President Trump for many years and looks forward to hosting him and the First Lady later this year,” a Buckingham Palace aide told the BBC.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told the UK Parliament: “We are really pleased the US president is coming for a second state visit.”
This followed a previous invitation from the King, handed to Trump by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in February, to discuss details of the state visit at either Dumfries House or Balmoral, both in Scotland.
Fiery showdown
Traditionally, second-term US presidents are not offered a state visit and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle.
Trump was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II during his previous three-day state visit in 2019, which took place during his first term in office.
Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, told the BBC he did not see how a state visit for the US president could possibly go ahead because of remarks Trump had made to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a fiery showdown, Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three”.
It followed a number of SNP MPs criticising the prime minister’s relationship with Trump on social media.
The party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said Starmer “better get back up off his knees and revoke that offer of a state visit”. Starmer dismissed these calls.
