Donald Trump might have hoped for a bit of a break from protesters across the pond with a golfing weekend at his Turnberry resort in Scotland. But a Greenpeace protester managed to outsmart security by circling over Trump’s digs in a motorized paraglider with a cheeky message.
“TRUMP: WELL BELOW PAR. #RESIST,” read the sign on the protester’s yellow banner. The unidentified daredevil flew about three miles over the Ayrshire countryside, then circled the Turnberry hotel grounds — three times, The Daily Mail reported. Trump had arrived a short time earlier and was on the grounds during the action.
Police and local air traffic control officials were reportedly alerted by Greenpeace before the protester appeared, apparently so he wouldn’t be harmed. (There were snipers guarding the area, said the Mail.)
The flyer then left the way he came, with police in pursuit. It wasn’t immediately clear if the protester was nabbed.
Greenpeace spokesman Ben Stewart said the organization wanted to make it clear that Trump is “simply the worst president ever.” (Check out the video above.)
The “vast majority of British people are appalled at his words and deeds,” said Stewart. “Trump calls climate change a ‘con job’ and a ‘myth.’ He’s committed to burning more dirty coal, and overturned the ban on offshore Arctic oil drilling. And that’s before you even get to talking about separating kids from their parents and caging them.”
A far bigger protest took place Friday evening in Glasgow, where thousands gathered at two sites in the city. “Today is a day for saying there is unity across parties in opposition to everything Donald Trump stands for, whether it’s his misogyny, his racism, his views on climate change, his views on workers’ rights,” Scottish Labor leader Richard Leonard told The Scotsman.
Trump and the first lady will relax at the resort until the president leaves for Helsinki to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. It’s not an official visit to Scotland, and the country insisted that the British government cover security costs. Trump’s son Eric arrived in Aberdeen on Friday to join his father at Turnberry, the Mail reported.
Other anti-Trump protests were also planned in Edinburgh and at Trump’s other golf resort in Aberdeenshire.
The Trumps left for Scotland after having tea with Queen Elizabeth. A White House tweet noted that the president and first lady were “departing the UK.” Scotland is part of the UK. The tweet was quickly deleted. Sky News noted that the “White House seemed to stumble on geography.”
Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, was born in Scotland. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1930.