In life, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump was the epitome of the American dream. She was born 113 years ago in the village of Tong, in the Hebrides Islands, in the North Sea, one of the poorest regions of the United Kingdom. Her first language was not English, but Scottish Gaelic, which she spoke at home with her parents and nine siblings. Five days before turning 18, she arrived in New York as an immigrant.
Sixteen years later, McLeod married a real estate developer named Fred Trump. They had five children, two of whom are still alive. One of them, Donald Trump, is the President of the United States, who arrived in Scotland yesterday to visit his private clubs, especially Balmedie, located about 20 kilometers by car from the city that was the oil capital of Europe in the late 20th and early 21st centuries: Aberdeen. There, on August 13, the golf course and the Mary Ann McLeod garden will be inaugurated. The immigrant's grandson, Eric Trump, will preside over the ceremony.
Upon landing on Scottish soil, on Friday night, the White House tenant lashed out against Europe, stating that it is heading towards disaster. "You are ruining your countries," he said. He based this on two things: the "invasion" of immigrants and windmills. He urged countries like the UK to remove wind turbines because, he said, they spoil the landscape.
Donald Trump's five-day trip to Scotland was initially announced as a personal visit, but it has ended up becoming an example of the fusion between institutional power and private business that characterizes his presidency. At the center of the controversy are the two golf clubs owned by the US President in Scotland: Turnberry and Balmedie. The latter has also been embroiled in all kinds of environmental controversies, especially due to Trump's rejection of the construction of a wind farm visible from the facilities and the destruction, to create the golf courses, of a dune ecosystem by the sea. In pure Donald Trump style, legal disputes remain open. And the Balmedie course recorded losses of 1.4 million pounds (16.8 million euros).
But the trip is not just for leisure. Trump will have official meetings with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen tomorrow, Sunday, and with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, on Monday, with a formal focus on trade and transatlantic cooperation. For Trump's critics, it is nothing more than a deliberate confusion of public interest with private gain.
At the heart of the criticism is the use of public resources to promote family businesses while carrying out official duties paid for by the American taxpayer in a country, the UK, to which he will return, this time on a formal State visit in just eight weeks. Furthermore, Trump will meet with Von der Leyen and Starmer at his private clubs, reminiscent of Trump's failed attempt to host the G-7 summit at his Doral resort in Miami. On that occasion, the idea did not materialize, and the summit ended up being held virtually at Camp David due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But in 2025, Trump is not as subtle. To his team, meeting with foreign dignitaries at his resorts is just a display of his "world-class business leadership." For the more skeptical, Trump's goal is to have his Turnberry course chosen by the R&A - one of the world's largest golf organizations - to host the British Open. Trump bought Turnberry in 2014, but the course has not hosted the Open since 2009. In 2021, following the Capitol riot by Trump's supporters, the R&A announced that the course would not host the Open again.
For Keir Starmer, the situation is complicated. The Prime Minister wants to have constructive relations with Trump without compromising the institutional neutrality of his position. Added to this is the fact that the US President is very unpopular in the UK. While much of the British political class accepts the need to maintain the special relationship with the United States as an inevitable reality, the left wing of the Labour Party is at odds with Starmer, accusing him of imposing a austerity policy akin to the Conservative Party and of submitting to Trump, especially regarding the Gaza conflict, a sensitive issue in the UK.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, which is closest to that political sector, Starmer is facing a rebellion even within his cabinet to recognize the State of Palestine, following the example of French President Emmanuel Macron. Seeing him meeting with Donald Trump, who is closely aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, could further strain the Prime Minister's already deteriorating relationship with his more left-leaning followers.
Trump arrives in Scotland weakened, with his popularity declining, partly due to the Epstein scandal. But at least he has a firm grip on his party and the full and unwavering support of the far-right wing of his voters. The opposite of Starmer. For now, the spirit of Mary Anne MacLeod Trump is protecting her son's trip to the land of his ancestors.