Police preparing for Donald Trump to visit Scotland

Police have confirmed they are preparing for a potential visit by Donald Trump to Scotland later this month.

The US president is expected to travel to his golf resort at Menie in Aberdeenshire where he will open a new course.

It is understood there will be no private meeting with King Charles, however Trump will make a full state visit to the UK this year, most likely in September.

The Scottish government said it was working with the UK government to support Police Scotland, and that first minister John Swinney had been briefed on police preparations.

Assistant chief constable Emma Bond said: “Planning is under way for a potential visit to Scotland later this month.

“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 Scotland in Aberdeenshire and the Trump Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire.

If it goes ahead, it would be the first time Donald Trump has visited Scotland since his victory in the US election.

His last presidential visit in 2018 required a major security operation with thousands protesting in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Liberal Democrat Scottish affairs spokesperson, Christine Jardine MP, criticised the “millions in policing costs” from previous visits.

She said: “They must have been among the most expensive rounds of golf in history. I hope that this time Police Scotland will not be left out of pocket.”

Jardine also said Trump’s visit should be an opportunity to try to “alleviate the threat” of US trade tariffs on Scottish businesses.

Trump’s last visit was in 2023, when he and son Eric broke ground on the new 18-hole course at the Aberdeenshire resort.

It was originally announced as the MacLeod Course – after Trump’s Lewis-born mother, Mary – but last month Trump International said the name had been changed to the “New Course”.

The organisation said it would feature the “largest sand dunes in Scotland” alongside the Old Course – completed in 2012.

The resort has prompted controversy in the past – five years ago the dunes 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” 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 along the the perimeter of his Turnberry resort in Ayrshire.

A paraglider also flew over the hotel with a banner criticising the president.

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.

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.