When Donald Trump re-won the United States presidency in last year’s election, the Dumfries and Galloway News in Scotland greeted the news with this headline: “South West Scotland Hotelier Becomes President Of America For Second Time”.
That more playful approach – a sign that the locals thought Trump, who owns luxury golf courses in Scotland, an amusement – now seems to have soured.
The National, Scotland’s pro-independence newspaper, greeted his arrival for a four-day visit this week with the following headline: “Convicted US Felon To Arrive In Scotland”.
So why is Trump visiting Scotland, and what’s on the agenda for his trip?
How has Trump been received in Scotland?
Trump’s links to Scotland go back to his mother.
While his father, Fred, was the son of German immigrants, Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was a Scottish immigrant to the US – born in the village of Tong on the Isle of Lewis.
Trump has made much of this connection and his love of Scotland, in general, while also making grand pledges about what his golf courses will do for tourism there.
On Friday, he arrived in the small Ayrshire village of Turnberry, where he headed off for some golf, before a meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer for talks on trade on Monday. Trump Turnberry has two golf championship courses – the Ailsa (four times host to the Open Championship) and King Robert the Bruce.
Turnberry, a tiny place of about 200 people, may have seemed like a good spot to escape wider troubles, as well. Trump still can’t shake off speculation, including from many in his MAGA fan base, about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal claimed Trump had sent Epstein a birthday note featuring a naked woman and text which read: “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
It reported that a book given to Epstein in 2003 included letters from both Trump and Bill Clinton.
On Friday, a Scottish reporter shouted at Trump: “Are you in Scotland to escape legal problems?” He didn’t reply.
Some people also turned up to protest against his visit to Scotland on Friday. One protester in Turnberry was holding a sign that read: “Scotland hated Trump before it was fashionable.” Other protest signs were less polite.
Stephen Flynn, a Scottish National Party MP who is notably bald, said he wouldn’t meet Trump since he would be busy “washing his hair”.
Dominic Hinde, an author and journalist based in Glasgow, said: “Scotland doesn’t need to kowtow to the White House in the way that the Westminster bubble does. We can afford to be rude in a way that Keir Starmer can’t. He played on his Scottish routes and expected to be welcomed like a king every time. His reception has only got worse and worse. We don’t want much to do with his kind of politics.”
Because of this fuss and an assassination attempt during his election campaign last year, Turnberry became temporary home to 5,000 police officers, army trucks and road checkpoints on Friday. This is the biggest and most expensive security operation since the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Trump also plans to visit his golf course in Balmedie, near Aberdeen, as well as a new course set to open in August, during his four-day trip that is due to end on July 29.
Why are some Scots angry with Trump?
A dispute between Trump and local people began 14 years ago over a plan to build wind turbines that would be visible from his golf course in Aberdeenshire. He wanted them halted, calling them “monstrosities” that would only hurt tourism. He failed to stop the wind farms, but he remains against both wind and solar power.
During previous talks, Trump has asked Starmer to ditch wind and ramp up oil production. He claims offshore wind turbines are “driving the whales crazy”. But around half of all Scotland’s electricity comes from wind.
Trump’s golf course in Aberdeenshire has also proved controversial. Conservation groups say the course has destroyed nearby dunes. The course has also struggled to make a profit or employ as many people as had been hoped.
The Stop Trump Scotland protest group made its opposition to him clear on Friday. It said: “The people of Scotland don’t want to roll out a welcome mat for Donald Trump, whose government is accelerating the spread of climate breakdown around the world.”
What will Trump discuss with the UK’s prime minister?
Talks with Keir Starmer will centre on refining a US-UK trade deal made in June, which set a 10 percent tariff on British goods going to the US.
It also expanded access to US goods in the British market and set tariffs on the first 100,000 UK vehicles exported to the US annually at 10 percent, compared with 25 percent for other countries.
In 2024, the UK shipped about 106,000 cars worth 9 billion pounds ($12.1bn) – including luxury brands such as Jaguar, Rolls Royce and Aston Martin, to the US, according to car manufacturers and the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The UK is now hoping to have a 25 percent tariff on UK steel and aluminium lowered, although that already compares favourably with a 50 percent duty for the rest of the world on the same goods.
Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec in London, said: “The UK is in a relatively good position in that Trump has raised most tariffs on UK exports by only 10 percent and that Britain is facing a 10 percent tariff on most of its car exports, and not 25 percent levies, as the majority of other countries are. A good result would be a tariff-free trade deal, but that would be difficult to achieve in normal circumstances, let alone now.”
Trump has claimed that the UK gets a better deal than other large economies, saying at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in June: “The UK is very well protected. You know why? Because I like them. That’s their ultimate protection.”
On Friday Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “It’s in Britain’s national interest to have strong relations with the US administration and as a result of both that long-term special relationship, but also more importantly, the work that our Prime Minister Keir Starmer has done in building that relationship with President Trump has meant that we were the first country in the world to secure a trade deal.”
However, Kathleen Brooks, research director at UK investment group XTB, said: “While the UK was ‘blessed’ with an early trade deal, it has not helped the UK’s economic predicament, as yet.
“The fact Trump has come to Scotland as the EU continues to wait for confirmation about its tariff rates with the US is interesting. Trump also has golf courses in Ireland, so his choice to visit Scotland could be seen as a rebuttal to the EU. It could also deflect some of the furore over the Epstein scandal.”
Some Trump acolytes have been critical of the UK in general, saying it lacks freedom of speech and that London has “no-go” zones. Starmer is thought unlikely to bring such matters up while he negotiates on trade.
What else might come up?
Trump is also due to meet Scottish First Minister John Swinney, who has made positive noises, saying: “Scotland shares a strong friendship with the United States that goes back centuries. The partnership remains steadfast through economic, cultural and ancestral links – including, of course, with the president himself.”
He has also pledged to raise issues beyond trade, such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Trump will be back in the UK before too long, following this visit. A state visit with First Lady Melania is planned for September 17, when the president will be expected to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle.