Thousands join Trump protest as US leader plays golf

Thousands have taken to the streets of Edinburgh in a third day of protests against Donald Trump’s UK visit.

They demonstrated as the US president played golf during a visit to his Turnberry resort on the Ayrshire coast.

Mr Trump is in Scotland with his wife and family on a private visit ahead of his summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday.

During his golf round he was booed by demonstrators gathered at the perimeter of the resort complex.

Earlier, police confirmed that they were investigating how a paraglider was able to fly over Turnberry with a banner criticising Mr Trump.

The president’s visit to Scotland has been accompanied by a major security operation.

Police snipers are positioned on tiers of temporary scaffolding overlooking the golf course, with a large number of other officers patrolling the grounds and surrounding area.

Just as Mr Trump entered the resort on Friday evening, the paragliding protester breached a no-fly zone, coming close to the hotel.

In Edinburgh, protesters are walking from the Scottish parliament to the Meadows for a “carnival of resistance”.

The event is also featuring the giant Trump Baby balloon, which was banned from both Turnberry and Holyrood.

Thousands of people protested in London on Friday against Mr Trump’s UK visit.

Protesters also filled George Square in Glasgow ahead of his arrival in Scotland.

However, the UK government’s International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told BBC Breakfast that the anti-Trump campaigners were “an embarrassment to themselves”.

He believed that the large scale protests in London and other cities on Friday “did not reflect the genuine good manners and hospitality of the British people”.

Mr Trump – whose mother was Scottish – and members of his family are spending the weekend at the hotel he bought in 2014 before departing on Sunday for the meeting with the Russian leader in Finland the following day.

The paraglider stunt was reportedly staged by Greenpeace.

Ben Stewart, a spokesman for the organisation, told the BBC: “It wasn’t dangerous at all. We let the police know about 10 or 15 minutes before that we were coming in.

“We phoned them, we had someone on the police line who informed them. We thought it was important that the president actually saw a real-life protester.

“There’s tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of people on the streets around the UK.”

Police insisted they wanted to strike a balance between “protection and public safety and the public’s right to peacefully protest”.

However, Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said officers were committed to tracing the person who flew the aircraft.

He added: “There are armed assets protecting the president – both from the US Secret Service and ourselves and the Met Police, who offer a close protection function as well.

“And there’s no doubt anybody who breaches security around him puts themselves in grave danger.

“On this occasion we could assess the situation and we realised there was no direct threat to the president however it’s absolutely something that is very serious.”

Mr Trump flew to Prestwick on Friday evening after earlier meeting Prime Minister Theresa May and The Queen.

Speaking at talks at Chequers, Mr Trump said a US-UK trade deal “will absolutely be possible”, hours after he told The Sun Theresa May’s Brexit plan could kill an agreement.

Mr Trump has often spoken of his love for Scotland and its people and had been a regular visitor to the country for many years, but this is his first trip since becoming the US leader.

The president and his wife Melania waved as they left Air Force One shortly after arriving at Prestwick, before being taken away in a huge convoy of black vehicles for the 20-mile journey to Turnberry.

Mr Trump was greeted by Scottish Secretary David Mundell, who said the visit was an “opportunity to strengthen those vital links” between the UK and USA.

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