For Trump nothing works over golf – nor any deals with Europe

Trade talks with the European Union and Great Britain led Donald Trump to Scotland on Friday. But before it is about politics and deals, the US president devoted himself to his passion: pictures show the US president with golf gloves and white USA cap on Saturday morning on his luxury facility in the county of Ayrshire in the southwest of Scotland. Together with his son Eric Eic, the US President waved photographers in front of the turnberry golf course.

Trump is a passionate golfer, and he also owns a facility on the other side of the country in Aberdeenshire, which he also wants to visit during his visit. There he wants to inaugurate a new 18-hole golf course called “Macleod”-in allusion to his mother Mary Anne’s girl’s name, who had emigrated from the Hebrides to New York at the age of 18. Residents, environmentalists and authorities had expressed their displeasure with the construction of the golf course.

Unions and other non-governmental organizations had called for demonstrations against the visit of the US President. Trump’s visit was therefore accompanied by a major police operation. For this purpose, officials from other parts of the United Kingdom were also consulted. Caused streets and police controls converted the otherwise quiet and picturesque turnberry on Saturday into a restricted zone: police officers on four -wheeled motorcycles and horses, others on foot with police detection dogs, patrol at the historic golf course, which was already the venue for the British Open for men four times.

Although the US President initially only played Golf for Saturday and did not announced any official appointments, he could not completely avoid politics: when he arrived in Scotland, he scourged wind turbines and migration as dangers to Europe.

Shortly after landing the presidential machine Air Force One on Friday evening at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow, the US President made warning words about irregular migration to the EU member states: “This immigration is killing Europe,” said Trump to journalists on the runway. “You should pull yourself together better, or you will no longer have Europe.” The immigration described Trump as a “terrible invasion”.

He also vehemently expressed himself against the expansion of wind turbines. “Stop the wind turbines, they destroy the beauty of your countries,” said the US President. Trump is a vehemently advocate fossil energies, he is driving the expansion of oil and gas production in the United States. He also regularly blasphemes about renewable energies.

As part of his informal journey, Trump will come together with the EU Commission President of Leyen on Sunday and on Monday with Great Britain’s Premier Strander. Von der Leyen announced the personal meeting with Trump on the subject of tariffs on Friday. The US President and they would have agreed to get together on a “good phone call”. Trump confirmed the meeting shortly after his arrival in Scotland: “Ursula will be here-a highly respected woman,” said the 79-year-old US president.

“We will see if we reach an agreement,” he added with a view to the customs dispute. He repeated earlier statements that there were opportunities for an agreement with the EU “50:50”. With “maybe 20 different affairs” there are still issues. If an agreement is made, “that would be the biggest deal of all,” said Trump.

On Wednesday (local time) Trump had given the prospect of reducing threatened tariffs to the import of European products – if the European Union is opening its market more to the USA. Before that, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) indicated that an agreement could be made in the trade dispute.

According to the White House, the conversation with Starmer is planned on Monday. With Great Britain, the US government had temporarily agreed on a trade agreement in May, but some details are open. The meeting will be “more of a celebration”, said the US President on Friday. “The deal has been completed”, the agreements from May only needed “fine tunes”. A meeting with the Scottish government head of John Swinney, the head of the Scottish National Party SNP, is also planned.

Trump had sparked a customs conflict with trading partners all over the world at the beginning of April. He last threatened the EU with tariffs of 30 percent, which should come into force on August 1, if there is no agreement before. An increased customs duty of 25 percent already applies to cars, and surcharges of 50 percent are due for steel and aluminum products.

Most recently, there had been obviously progress in the negotiations between Brussels and Washington. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday evening at a meeting with France President Emmanuel Macron that he had just been informed about “possible decisions” in the trade conflict with the United States. According to several diplomats, US import duties of 15 percent and numerous exceptions could be the result of the negotiations. So far, however, it has remained largely unclear what the EU customs level would look like.