Scotland's voice will be 'heard' during Donald Trump visit, vows John Swinney

In what marks the beginning of the biggest police operation in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Mr Trump is scheduled to arrive at Glasgow Prestwick Airport this evening before travelling by heavily armoured motorcade to his resort in Turnberry, South Ayrshire.

Over the course of his five-day trip, he will meet both Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Swinney, with the latter describing it as an opportunity for Scotland to be “showcased on the world stage.”

Mr Swinney, who has been criticised for taking a private meeting earlier this year with Mr Trump’s son, Eric, said that the visit “provides Scotland with a platform to make its voice heard on the issues that matter, including war and peace, justice and democracy.”

He said: “As first minister it is my responsibility to advance our interests, raise global and humanitarian issues of significant importance, including the unimaginable suffering we are witnessing in Gaza, and ensure Scotland’s voice is heard at the highest levels of government across the world. That is exactly what I will do when I meet with President Trump during his time in Scotland.”

Plans for ‘festival of resistance’

Anti-Trump campaign groups have called on Mr Swinney to cancel his planned meeting with the 79 year-old, while Amnesty International UK has urged him to “directly challenge” the US administration’s human rights violations.

Protesters have ramped up their plans for demonstrations during Mr Trump’s time in his mother’s homeland, with at least four events planned as part of what has been described as a “festival of resistance.”

Ahead of his arrival, the vast operation being staged by Police Scotland intensified yesterday, with heightened patrols taking place at Turnberry, where large security fencing has been installed around swathes of the Ailsa links course. Officers have roadblocks in place at all entrances to the resort, while the A719 between Maidens and Turnberry has been closed ahead of the visit.

Mr Trump is expected to play golf at Turnberry tomorrow and Sunday before meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the property on Monday. Later that day, he will then travel via RAF Lossiemouth in Moray to his inaugural Scottish golf resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, where he is scheduled to open a new course named after his Lewis-born mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump.

Surge of protests as airspace restrictions widened

Temporary airspace restrictions have also been put in place at Prestwick as well as Mr Trump’s resorts as part of a security operation that will cost British taxpayers millions of pounds.

In addition to policing Mr Trump’s entourage, Scotland’s national force is also facing a surge of protests taking place around the country. The Stop Trump Coalition, one of the most visible campaign groups, will be holding simultaneous demonstrations on Saturday in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

The former event, which will include Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman among the speakers, is taking place at noon in the city’s Union Terrace. At the same time, protesters will also assemble outside the US Consulate in Edinburgh’s Regent Terrace.

Other protests are also planned in Dumfries on Saturday and Aberdeenshire on Monday, although further demonstrations are expected. Similar gatherings during Mr Trump’s visit in 2018 drew thousands of protesters.

Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond, the gold commander in charge of the policing operation, has said it “reasonable” to expect demonstrations not only in Edinburgh and Aberden, but Glasgow and Ayrshire as well, but the force has no reason to believe any of the events will result in disorder or disruption.

The Stop Trump Coalition said its official events would take the form of a “creative and vibrant protest,” and urged those attending to bring along friends, as well as banners and placards so as to provide Mr Trump with a “fitting welcome.”

Campaigners to meet Trump with ‘loud protest’

The group has called on Mr Swinney to cancel plans to meet with the head of an “authoritarian administration,” and warned that they were “prepared to respond to Trump’s agenda” and “meet him with loud protest wherever he goes on his visit to Scotland.”

Alena Ivanova, one of the campaigners taking part, said: “Donald Trump may shake hands with our leaders, but he's no friend of Scotland. We, the people of Scotland, see the damage he has done - to democracy and working people in the US, to the global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, to the very principles of justice and humanity.”

She added: “Trump is not welcome because he represents all that Scottish people reject. We call on everyone to join us and protest Trump, his politics and his ushering of a global far right.”

It comes as the Scottish secretary, Ian Murray, said that Mr Trump would receive a “warm welcome” when Air Force One touches down in Scotland.

Ian Murray, who previously condemned Mr Trump’s “far right, extremist propaganda” during his first term in the Oval Office, is expected to meet the 79 year-old when he arrives at Prestwick.

As recently as 2019, Mr Murray was one of several MPs - including foreign secretary David Lammy - to back a motion accusing the US president of “misogynism, racism and xenophobia.”

Six years on, however, Mr Murray pointed to the historic ties between Britain and the US, and said he had a “duty” to welcome foreign dignitaries.

“The office of the president of the United States and the office of the Prime Minister are ones that work very, very closely together, and should do, because it's in our national interest to do so,” he told BBC Radio Scotland.

“We should make sure those relationships are in place because it's important for our defence, our security, our economy - especially for jobs - and it's really, really important to the finer details of the US trade deal that's been done.”

Mr Murray’s comments come despite a 2019 motion in the House of Commons which he backed – along with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Health Secretary Wes Streeting – while in opposition which accused the president of “misogynism, racism and xenophobia”.

Pressed on his support for the motion, Mr Murray did not answer, instead focusing on the importance of the relationship between the two countries.

Mr Murray said the Scottish Secretary has a “duty” to welcome foreign dignitaries.

Shadow Scottish secretary Andrew Bowie accused Mr Murray of having “no credible explanation” for his support of the motion.

“So let me help him: in 2019 he was shamelessly playing to the gallery like a student politician, whereas today he is a Government minister forced to get real and behave like a grown-up,” he added.

“I’m glad that Ian Murray has belatedly recognised how vital it is for Scotland to welcome, and work constructively with, the US president – but he’d have more credibility if he put his hands up and owned his past juvenile opportunism.”