Donald Trump in Scotland: Sleepy Balmedie very gently rocked by protest
Around 150 people marched through the Aberdeenshire visit ahead of Donald Trump’s touchdown at North East golf course.
The peace of Balmedie was briefly broken by protesters yesterday afternoon as around 150 people gathered to oppose Donald Trump’s visit to Aberdeenshire.
Channeled by police through a housing estate and a woodland path towards the beach that flanks Trump International Scotland, the quiet nature of this sleepy place gave way to chants, jeers and the sound of kazoos.
Residents briefly came to their doors for a glance of the action. A wee girl on her bike stopped to stare, before turning the other way. Dog walkers, of which there are many here, pressed on.
Police facilitated the protesters, who had gathered outside the White Horse Pub, and arranged a route for them to follow.
But with the towering dunes of Balmedie dotted with police guarding the fringes of the golf course, and undercover police in leisure wear roaming the country park that surrounds it, this show of resistance was easily contained.
After protesters made it to a car park area, roughly around half a mile from the saltire that marks out Trump International, the protest halted. Out came the sweeties - and those kazoos.
Donald Trump, by this point still in Turnberry with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, would never have caught wind of this protest.
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But for those who took part, the motivation was to be seen and heard, with the reasons for being there ranging from deep anguish at world affairs, particularly Gaza, to the personal.
Nicola Seal, of Westhill, a potter, organised the protest because no one else had.
She said: “I’m just a mum who lives locally.
“I just couldn’t sit home and do nothing and I couldn’t see anyone else organising anything so Trump could hear us say ‘no’ to him really.
“I just had to come out and ended up organising a massive protest by accident.
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“I think this turn out is great given they have had to take time off work and they didn’t let us know until the last minute that they have closed all the roads they possibly could.
“We understand that they do that for security reasons but I feel some of it is to prevent legal and peaceful protest.”
Ms Seal described Balmedie as her “family’s happy place” which had been damaged by Trump with his first golf course.
She added: “Donald Trump represents everything that Scottish values are not. Scottish values are about inclusivity, tolerance, and a slightly left leaning society. He goes on about his Scottish heritage and it is laughable
“I hate to see him come here and it is the taxpayers of Scotland who will foot the bill for the security. He should be footing the bill for that.”
Tatiana Becker travelled from Hertfordshire to attend the protest.
She said: “Two really big things on my mind is that I’m from Los Angeles and I am very worried about my friends and family.
“We are US citizens but we are Mexican Americans and I see people being targeted due to the colour of their skin, getting picked up on the street and put in detention centres.
“I am here to speak for them, but I am also here for the community here. The UK taxpayer is spending £14m on this visit, a business visit for Trump.
“That money should be going into the community.”
Alena Ivanova of the Stop Trump Coalition, the group behind the protest, also told the crowd they had been “inundated” with support from US citizens following Saturday’s protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
She said: “We were inundated by messages on our social media and on email from US citizens deeply, deeply grateful to the people of Scotland for showing up for them, for showing up for the migrants in the States, for showing up for the people of Palestine, for the people that are being genocided right now, for showing up for our common humanity.
“And this is what we are here to do again, and this is what we will keep gathering to do for as long as it takes.”
While the winds of change did not rip through Balmedie this afternoon, the point of protest was sincerely made.
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