Balmedie, Scotland – President Trump must arrive in Scotland Friday for a four -day private trip – his first in the United Kingdom since he was re -elected. The White House says that he will meet towards the end of his visit with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss trade, but he will also open a brand new course at the Trump International Golf Links.
Located on the damaged northeast coast of Scotland, it is an incredibly beautiful place, and it is easy to see why Trump was eager to buy the site over ten years ago and develop it in a world class golf club.
But as CBS News learned by speaking with the inhabitants, much finds it difficult to separate the politics of the American president from his Green.
David Milne bought his old mouth on duty on the coast of the Aberdeenshire over 20 years ago, and there is still today. But since 2012, it has been in the middle of Trump territory, surrounded by hundreds of acres of changing sand dunes that have been meticulously carved in 36 holes on which anyone can play a tour – for about $ 500.
Images Jane Barlow / PA / Getty 
Milne is not satisfied with his new neighbor.
“It is always the second best to the origin,” he told CBS News. “When I got here, this landscape was not touched … Now it’s just a golf course.”
Trump bought the land for the first time in 2006, and during development, he also offered to buy some of the neighbors’ places, but Milne refused to sell.
In 2011, Mr. Trump said that he did not like the appearance of Milne’s property anyway.
“Who cares,” said the future president at Golf Channel, pointing to the house of Milne. “We are trying to build the biggest course in the world. The house is ugly.”
When asked what the earth means for itself and his family, Milne said that it was much more than a simple picturesque coast.
“The earth is what Scotland is. Not only financially, it is also in the soul of the Scottish people. This is where we come from and where we return,” he said.
The visit to Scotland is also a return for Mr. Trump. Her mother, born Mary Anne Macleod in 1912, grew up on the Scottish Hebridse Island in Lewis. He appointed one of his courses in the Aberdeenshire after her.
Trump has met demonstrations on previous visits, and vandalism in his golf courses has taken a political tone in recent months.
Tommy Campbell, a veteran activist of the Labor Union in Scotland, told CBS News that he planned to direct another protest during the visit of the American leader this weekend, with a clear message for Mr. Trump:
“You are not welcome here,” he said. “The policies he represents are completely in contradiction with what we appreciate here.”
A survey conducted in February revealed that around 70% of the Scottish have an unfavorable opinion on President Trump. In the village near its golf ties, CBS News spoke with the members of a hiking club, which has a grudge.
“The way he treated the neighbors and the owners, I think it has influenced us badly,” said a woman.
But the course employs more than 80 people, and the White House says it has had a positive economic impact in the region.
A local man – a golfer – told CBS News that the company Mr. Trump has made, “from the point of view of golf, is fantastic”.
“Not saying that the demonstrations are not right,” he added. “Some things, I would agree with the demonstrators, but I think there is a time and a place for that, and it is not on the golf course.”
Opinions on President Trump are a bit like the weather in the Aberdeenshire. But just or nauseating – real Scottish fashion – they are unlikely to stop a good golf round.
