Trump protest news: Thousands demonstrate as US president plays golf in Scotland

Thousands of demonstrators are protesting across the country as Donald Trump’s UK visit turns from talks with the Prime Minister and the Queen to golf.

The US president flew to Glasgow Prestwick airport on Friday night for a two-day private stay at his Turnberry golf resort, as the protests entered their third day.

People marched in Edinburgh from the Scottish Parliament to the Meadows, waving placards with messages including “Dump Trump” and ”Love Trumps Hate,” as part of a so-called “Carnival of Resistance”.

Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered outside the Turnberry course in Ayrshire, where demonstrators shouted: “No Trump, no USA, no KKK, no racist USA!”

Police were still investigating on Saturday after Greenpeace flew a paraglider with a banner bearing the message “Trump well below par” above the resort on Friday evening, despite restrictions on the airspace above the course.

In London, a “Welcome Trump” procession joined with a ”Free Tommy” march, to form a group of several hundred who demonstrated in support of the US President and the far-right leader.

The Metropolitan police separated the group from antifascist protesters and placed restrictions on when and where the demonstrators could gather.

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18:19

Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Scotland to protest against Trump today but none of them got quite as close as a protester in a microlight who flew within yards of the US president last night 

 

Police investigating after protester flies within yards of Donald Trump

Snipers watch from roof of golf resort as powered parachute trails banner reading: 'Trump well below par'

17:46

 

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams has said that the planned protests over the past two days in Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh have taken place with no arrests.

 

17:01

Supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) have clashed with antifascists in Whitehall

Campaigners for the release of jailed former EDL leader Tommy Robinson have been involved in a scuffle with an antifascist group near Parliament.

 

Police quickly broke up the altercation and no arrests were made.

 

Supporters of Mr Robinson, who is currently in prison after being convicted of contempt of court, have joined supporters of US President Donald Trump's supporters demonstrating in Whitehall.

 

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16:42

Demonstrators in Edinburgh have reached the Meadows – a park in the centre of the city – after marching from the Scottish Parliament.

 

Organisers of the Edinburgh estimate around 50,000 have attended the event, while the police say around between 10,000 and 12,000 joined the protest.

 

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty

 

16:23

Police in Scotland are still trying to find the person who flew an anti-Trump banner above the US president's Ayrshire golf resort.

 

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams told the BBC: “Clearly that was a concern, it was a concern to us and to the security around the president and there’s no doubt that the individual responsible for piloting that powered parachute put themselves in danger as well as result of that.

 

“There is an exclusion zone in place, it is a criminal offence to breach that.”

 

Greenpeace has said it was important for the US President to see a demonstrator “in the flesh” rather just seeing them on television.”

16:02

Jeremy Corbyn has responded to an allegation by international trade secretary Liam Fox, who said protesters against Donald Trump’s visit were “an embarrassment to themselves”.

 

The Labour leader told the BBC: “I think his remarks are frankly embarrassing — for a cabinet minister to say that.

 

“He lives in a democracy where people have a right to free speech, a right to demonstrate and a right to express themselves.

 

“There were hundreds of thousands of people on the streets yesterday in London. What they were doing was asserting their diversity, asserting their support for women's right, for human rights, their opposition to racism and misogyny ... I think they've got every right to say that and every right to do that. Surely we should be proud to live in a society where there is dissent."

 

Dr Fox said earlier today: “I don’t think that the protesters were an embarrassment to the Government, I think they were an embarrassment to themselves.

 

"I think that when you have the president of the United States … greeted with signs that say: ‘Go home, we hate you,’ I don’t think that represents the genuine good manners and hospitality of the British people.”
 

15:29

Nicola Sturgeon has said opposition to Donald Trump is about policies rather than his personality and that reports he “totally hates” her only leave her amused.

The first minister said she had been a “wee bit tickled” by comments made by a former UK Government aide that the US president has been “bitching” about her to Theresa May.

She said: “I find it hard to believe that the president of the United States with all the big important issues that he has to deal with on a daily basis, finds the time to rant about me on the telephone to Theresa May

“If it is true, I suppose I should take it as a compliment. I certainly don't spend that much time talking about him.”

The Huffington Post quoted the anonymous former aide as saying: “He totally hates Nicola Sturgeon. He spends lots of his time bitching about Sturgeon. He loathes Salmond too. But why spend so much time talking about Sturgeon in a phone call with Theresa May?”

Speaking after heading Scotland's largest pride march as the first honorary grand marshal of Glasgow Pride, the first minister said she disagreed with the US president on a number of issues.

“It's not personal, it's about policies," she said. "Policies like pulling out of the climate change treaty, the treatment of minorities, the language about women, but also, and I think most importantly recently, the policy of separating migrant children from their parents."

 

PA

15:08

First lady Melania Trump has posted pictures on Twitter of her meeting the Queen.

 

“It was an honor to meet and have tea with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," she said in a tweet. "POTUS and I enjoyed the visit and her company very much!”

 

The US president and first lady have been criticised for failing to bow and curtsy when they met the monarch – as is customary – opting for handshakes instead. 

14:56

Responding to the US president waving to protesters, one activist told local news outlet MFR News: "He obviously saw that we were here, acknowledged we were here and that's obviously a good thing — he knows there are people protesting against his visit and that he's not welcome in Scotland."

 

Protesters have been playing the bagpipes and shouting: "Leave our country!" outside Mr Trump's luxury golf resort in Ayrshire since this morning.

 

14:46

Outside Mr Trump's golf course in Aberdeenshire a female protester climbed onto a wall surrounding the resort before being helped down by police.

Demonstrators cheered and waved their placards when passing motorists sounded their horns, but one driver shouted “get a life”.

New Yorker Ibis Robinson, who has lived in Scotland's north east with her husband Timothy for many years, said she came to stand up against “the hatred and bigotry against anyone who isn't white”.

 

She said she does not like returning to the States since Mr Trump took office.

 

The 61-year-old said: “There's no way I'm going back. Even if he's only there for four years, every four years we have an election and there are 67 million people who support him, so what are the chances that this is the end? That's the worrisome thing.

 

“I never thought I would be thinking this about my own country, that it would be possible.

 

“We were taught from a young age that there are checks and balances, and there are no checks and balances.”#

 

PA

14:28

Donald Trump has been spotted playing golf at his luxury resort in Ayrshire, Scotland.

 

The president waved to protesters who heckled him from a beach that adjoins the golf course, as snipers overlooked the interaction from scaffolding erected on the sand. The boundary between the resort and the beach was also guarded by police in high-visibility jackets.

 

PA

 

AFP

 

PA

 

13:54

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Estimates of the pro-Trump and pro-Tommy Robinson rally in London range from 100 and 300 — a far cry from the thousands marching in Edinburgh today.

Police have issued a section 12 order which restricts where the "Welcome Trump" and "Free Tommy" march can go, amid fears of violent clashes with anti-fascist protesters.

Specially trained officers will patrol the procession, after supporters of the EDL leader threw bottles and barriers at police during a rally last month.

13:45

The Scotland United Against Trump rally is in full swing in Edinburgh.

Demonstrators are marching from the Scottish Parliament, past the US Consulate, to Meadows area of the city centre. There, they will hold a so-called Carnival of Resistance of 2.30pm.

Here are some pictures from the protest:

 

 

 

 

13:16

A US diplomat has reportedly complained to the British ambassador about the jailing of right-wing activist Tommy Robinson.

It's alleged Sam Brownback – Donald Trump's ambassador for international religious freedom – suggested the UK should be more “sympathetic” to the former leader of the English Defence League.

 

Robinson's supporters are currently protesting against his imprisonment alongside supporters of the US President in London.

13:07

The now-infamous baby blimp has been inflated in Edinburgh and is set to fly above a huge protest there.

 

 

 

 

13:02

A look back at Barack Obama's relationship with the Queen, after Donald Trump encountered her majesty.

 

Trump and Obama's meeting with the Queen couldn't have been more different

12:46

"Welcome Trump" and "Free Tommy" demonstrators have begun a rally in London. Several protests against the imprisonment of far-right leader Tommy Robinson have already taken place in Britain, including one that saw supporters perform Nazi salutes and attack police. Mr Robinson will appeal his 13-month sentence at the Court of Appeal on 18 July.

 

 

Full story of why Robinson was jailed here:

 

Why was Tommy Robinson jailed? The real reason EDL founder is in prison

12:37

Protesters are gathering in Edinburgh, with some demonstrators carrying a large banner bearing the message: "Scotland against Trump."

 

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

 

12:34

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has pledged there will be “peaceful, but passionate” protests against the US president.

The Labour politician, who is due to join marchers in Edinburgh, condemned US President for his “misogyny, his racism, his bigotry” and his “denunciation of climate change and his anti-trade union actions”.

 

“Donald Trump is not welcome here. The horrific scenes at the Mexican border are just the latest example of his repudiation of decent human values," Mr Leonard said on the Red Robin website.

 

"Caging children like animals is barbaric and we simply cannot roll out the red carpet for a US president who treats people that way.

 

“These demonstrations are not simply just about the politics of Donald Trump, it is about his moral values as well.”

 

He added: “It is not about right versus left, it is about right versus wrong.”

12:24

Let's relive that moment an anti-Trump banner was flown over the US President's Turnberry golf resort...

 

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