15 Jul 2018

Trump to leave UK after two-night stay

5:10 pm on 15 July 2018

Donald Trump will leave the UK later today after spending a second night in Scotland.

US President Donald Trump (C) gestures as he walks during a round of golf on the Ailsa course at Trump Turnberry, the luxury golf resort of US President Donald Trump, in Turnberry, southwest of Glasgow, Scotland, during the private part of his four-day UK visit.

US President Donald Trump (C) gestures as he walks during a round of golf on the Ailsa course at Trump Turnberry, the luxury golf resort of US President Donald Trump, in Turnberry, southwest of Glasgow, Scotland, during the private part of his four-day UK visit. Photo: AFP or licensors

The US president is expected to fly from Prestwick Airport to Finland where he will prepare for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He has been staying at his Turnberry resort on the Ayrshire coast during the private leg of his UK visit.

Protesters gathered around the perimeter of the course as he played golf on Saturday afternoon.

Amid tight security, he waved as they heckled him from a hill overlooking the Ailsa championship course.

Meanwhile, Police Scotland confirmed they were investigating how a paraglider criticising Mr Trump was able to fly over Turnberry, breaching an air exclusion zone.

A Greenpeace paraglider swept just over US President Donald Trump when he was visiting Scotland.

A Greenpeace paraglider swept just over US President Donald Trump when he was visiting Scotland. Photo: Supplied/Greenpeace Twitter

In Edinburgh thousands of people marched through the city in a demonstration against the president's controversial visit to the UK.

They waved placards as they gathered in the capital's Meadows, where two giant nappy-clad baby Trump balloons were inflated.

In a tweet on Saturday, Mr Trump said he was at Turnberry "for two days of meetings, calls and hopefully some golf".

"The weather is beautiful and this place is incredible," he added. "Tomorrow I go to Helsinki for a Monday meeting with Vladimir Putin."

There have been calls for Monday's meeting between the US and Russian presidents to be cancelled, after the US charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with election interference.

But White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders has said the meeting will go ahead as planned in Helsinki.

And Mr Trump used Twitter to criticise the administration of his predecessor Barack Obama over alleged Russian hacking to help him win the 2016 presidential election.

"Why didn't they do something about it?" he tweeted, adding that Mr Obama had been told about it before the vote.

Police estimated that about 9000 people took part in the march through Edinburgh, which they said "passed without incident".

They gathered at the Scottish Parliament, before walking to the city's meadows area for a "carnival of resistance".

At Turnberry, protesters climbed a hill near the golf course to ensure the president could see their placards and banners.

As he took to the golf course with his son, Eric, they branded him a "racist", shouting: "No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA."

The president and his wife Melania arrived in Scotland on board Air Force One on Friday evening, before travelling by motorcade to the Trump Turnberry resort - one of two Scottish golf courses he owns.

There is a massive security operation in place at the complex on the Ayrshire coast but shortly after he arrived a paraglider flew over the area with a sign claiming Mr Trump was "well below par".

Police Scotland said the person responsible for the serious security breach put themselves in "grave danger".

It comes after the president spent Friday meeting both Theresa May and the Queen on what is Mr Trump's first visit to the UK as president.

Supporters of Mr Trump gathered in London on Saturday, the day after an estimated 100,000-plus rallied through London in opposition to the US president.

- BBC

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs