(AFP) – Donald Trump inaugurated his new golf course in eastern Scotland on Tuesday, ending a five-day trip in which the US president signed a major trade deal and weighed in on several key issues. Secret agents and golfers criss-crossed the sprawling complex on the Aberdeenshire coast, waiting for the president to tee off. But the Republican president, a keen golfer, let his son Eric officially open the course, having transferred his real estate and assets to a family holding company.
The new course features the world’s largest natural bunker, dunes and greens overlooking the sea, with a “focus on environmental sensitivity,” said a press release. Visible out to sea were the offshore wind turbines that Trump unsuccessfully tried to block. The president once again spoke out against wind power as he hosted European Union President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. It was one of the many issues Trump addressed during the free-wheeling press conferences at his other golf complex in Turnberry, western Scotland over the past days.
With Von der Leyen, he announced a trade agreement in which the EU resigned itself to 15 percent tariffs on goods entering the US, a deal heavily criticised across the continent. During Monday’s press conference with Starmer, Trump promised more aid for Gaza, gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a “10 or 12 day” ultimatum to cease hostilities in Ukraine, and criticised London mayor Sadiq Khan.
The US leader further waded into UK politics on Tuesday morning when he took to his Truth Social platform to urge the government to cut taxes and incentivise drilling in the North Sea oilfield. “Incentivize the drillers, FAST. A VAST FORTUNE TO BE MADE for the UK, and far lower energy costs for the people,” he wrote. Trump played golf at Turnberry on Saturday and Sunday on a visit that mixed leisure with diplomacy, further blurring the lines between the presidency and his business interests.
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