PSNI sends officers to Trump Scotland visit - local police aid with huge security operation as US President in UK for five days
Northern Irish police officers are being dispatched to Scotland to aid with a huge security operation over the visit of US President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump is due to touch down in Scotland on Friday evening for a five-day trip, during which he is expected to visit both of the golf clubs he owns in the country and enter talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The visit is being seen as vital to the national interest, as it could offer a chance to refine the UK-US trade deal which came into force last month – and police from Northern Ireland are to play a vital part in making sure it passes off safely, as it’s believed Mr Trump’s presence could spark a series of protests on issues potentially including the environment and the conflict in Gaza.
A PSNI spokeswoman told the News Letter that a number of local officers will travel to Scotland over the coming days, to aid Police Scotland in “the planning and safe delivery of policing around the US presidential visit”.
“The deployment follows a request for mutual aid via the National Police Co-ordination Centre,” the spokeswoman said, referring to a UK-wide body that pull together police responses to huge events ranging from the Covid pandemic to large-scale protests.
The full cost of the deployment of PSNI officers in the US President security operation will be recovered from Police Scotland, the spokeswoman added.
Speaking ahead of presidential plane Air Force One’s arrival in the UK, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said Mr Trump’s visit is in the public interest.
Speaking during a visit to a Rolls-Royce factory near Glasgow Airport on Friday morning, she said: “It’s in Britain’s national interest to have strong relations with the US administration and as a result of both that long-term special relationship – but actually, more importantly, the work that our Prime Minister Keir Starmer has done in building that relationship with President Trump has meant that we were the first country in the world to secure a trade deal.
“That has a tangible benefit for people here in Scotland, whether it is people working in the Scotch whisky industry or people working in the defence sector like here at Rolls-Royce, that trade deal means lower tariffs than any country in the world on things that we send to the US.
However, Ms Reeves dodged a question relating to senior ministers – including Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Scottish Secretary Ian Murray – supporting a motion in 2019, when Labour was in opposition, that called for the president’s first state visit to be cancelled while accusing Mr Trump of “misogyny, racism and xenophobia”.
Mr Trump has said he is looking forward to meeting Scottish First Minister John Swinney during his trip.
Before boarding Air Force One, he told journalists: “The Scottish leader is a good man, so I look forward to meeting him.”
He also said he has a “lot of love” for Scotland.
The US President is expected to attend both golf clubs he owns in Scotland – Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen, and Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire – during his visit, which has been described as “private” by the White House. He’s due to leave the UK on Tuesday.