Trump opens Scottish golf course and vows 'peaceful world'
To the sound of bagpipes, secret agents and golfers criss-crossed the sprawling complex on the Aberdeenshire coast, waiting for the president to tee off.
"We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful, and the area has ... really, really welcomed us," Trump said before cutting the ribbon.
"We'll play it very quickly, and then I go back to (Washington) DC and we put out fires all over the world," he added.
"We have a world that's got some conflict, but we've ironed out a lot of it. We're gonna have a great and peaceful world."
Trump's campaign song, the Village People's "YMCA", blared out after the ribbon cutting, as fireworks exploded in the background.
The president then teed off with son Eric, who led the project.
"This will be a tremendously successful place and a place where people can come and enjoy life," the US leader said, highlighting how his trip has again blurred the lines between his presidency and his business interests.
"We wanted this to be the greatest 36 holes anywhere on Earth. And there's no question that that's been achieved," said Eric Trump.
"This was his Mona Lisa," he said of his father's connection with the course.
"Sculpting the dunes, sculpting the land, that was always his painting," he added.
TRADE DEAL
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 again spoke out against wind power as he hosted European Commission 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 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 per cent tariffs on goods entering the United States, a deal heavily criticised across the continent.
At a press conference Monday with Starmer, Trump promised more aid for Gaza, gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a "10 or 12 day" ultimatum to cease hostilities in Ukraine.
"I really felt it was going to end. But every time I think it's going to end he kills people," Trump said of the Russian leader. "I'm not so interested in talking (to him) anymore," he added.
Trump also criticised London mayor Sadiq Khan at the press conference and waded back into UK politics on Tuesday when he took to his Truth Social platform to urge the government to cut taxes and incentivise oil drilling in the North Sea, denouncing wind turbines as "ugly monsters".
"Incentivise 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.
He is to fly back to Washington on Tuesday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
30 minutes ago
- Straits Times
India will buy Russian oil despite Trump's threats, NYT reports
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: A view shows oil pump jacks outside Almetyevsk, in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Indian officials have said they would keep purchasing oil from Russia despite the threat of penalties that U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House, India's Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump last month indicated in a Truth Social post that India would face additional penalties for purchase of Russian arms and oil. However, he later said that he did not care what India does with Russia. On Friday, Trump told reporters that he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia. Two senior Indian officials said there had been no change in policy, according to the NYT report, which added that one official said the government had "not given any direction to oil companies" to cut back imports from Russia. Reuters had earlier reported that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil in the past week as discounts narrowed in July. On July 14, Trump threatened 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine. Russia is the top supplier to India, responsible for about 35% of India's overall supplies. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Mali ex-prime minister to stand trial over social media post, lawyer says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox BAMAKO - A Malian court has detained and charged former Prime Minister Moussa Mara over a social media post criticising shrinking democratic space under military rule in the West African nation, his lawyer said late Friday. Mara is one of few public figures in the country who has been willing to openly question moves taken this year to dissolve political parties and grant the military government, led by Assimi Goita, a five-year mandate without elections. Last month, authorities formally approved Goita's five-year term and said it could be renewed as many times as necessary as Mali struggles to respond to a long-running jihadist insurgency. Goita assumed power after military coups in 2020 and 2021. Mara had been summoned several times for questioning this month over a social media post dated July 4 expressing solidarity with government critics who have been jailed. On July 21, his lawyer, Mountaga Tall, posted on social media site X that Mara had been barred from boarding a flight to Senegal to participate in a regional conference on peace and security. On Friday, Mara was summoned by a judicial cybercrimes unit, and a prosecutor charged him with offences including undermining the credibility of the state and spreading false information, Tall said in a statement. Mara's trial has been scheduled for September 29, Tall said. A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case against Mara comes amid worsening insecurity in Mali. The past few months have seen a surge of deadly attacks by Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-linked group that also operates in Burkina Faso and Niger. Analysts say the group's battlefield tactics have grown increasingly sophisticated and that it has amassed substantial resources through raids on military posts, cattle rustling, hijacking of goods, kidnappings and taxes on local communities. On Friday, the group said it had ambushed a convoy of Malian soldiers and Russian mercenaries in the Tenenkou locality in central Mali. Mali's army confirmed the ambush in a statement on X. Neither statement gave a death toll. REUTERS
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump fires US labor official over data and gets earlier than expected chance to reshape Fed
Signage is seen at the United States Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - President Donald Trump on Friday fired a top Labor Department official on the heels of a market-shocking weak scorecard of the U.S. job market, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the figures and adding to already growing concerns about the quality of economic data published by the federal government. In a second surprise economic policy development, the door for Trump to make an imprint on a Federal Reserve with which he clashes almost daily for not lowering interest rates opened much earlier than anticipated when Fed Governor Adriana Kugler unexpectedly announced her resignation on Friday afternoon. The two developments further rattled a stock market already reeling from his latest barrage of tariff announcements and the weak jobs data. The benchmark S&P 500 Index sank 1.6% in its largest daily drop in more than two months. Trump accused Erika McEntarfer, appointed by former President Joe Biden, of faking the jobs numbers. There is no evidence to back Trump's claims of data manipulation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the statistical agency that compiles the closely watched employment report as well as consumer and producer price data. A representative for the BLS did not respond to a request for comment. Friday began with BLS reporting the U.S. economy created only 73,000 jobs in July, but more stunning were net downward revisions showing 258,000 fewer jobs had been created in May and June than previously reported. "We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Opening of Woodlands Health has eased load on KTPH, sets standard for future hospitals: Ong Ye Kung Singapore New vehicular bridge connecting Punggol Central and Seletar Link to open on Aug 3 Singapore New S'pore jobs portal launched for North West District residents looking for work near home Business Property 'decoupling' illegal if done solely to avoid taxes: High Court Singapore HSA investigating teen who was observed to be allegedly vaping in MRT train Asia KTM plans new passenger rail service in Johor Bahru to manage higher footfall expected from RTS Singapore Tengah facility with over 40 animal shelters, businesses hit by ticks Singapore 60 years of building Singapore DATA CONCERNS A Trump administration official who requested anonymity said that while all economic data is noisy, the White House has been dissatisfied with how large the revisions have been in the recent data and issues with lower survey responses. The problem started during COVID and has not been addressed in the years since. "There are these underlying problems that have been festering here for years now that have not been rectified," the person said. "The markets and companies and the government need accurate data, and like, we just weren't getting that," the official said. The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report, citing resource constraints. The government surveys about 121,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 631,000 individual worksites for the employment report. The response rate has declined from 80.3% in October 2020 to about 67.1% in July, BLS data shows. A Reuters poll last month found 89 of 100 top policy experts had at least some worries about the quality of U.S. economic data, with most also concerned that authorities are not addressing the issue urgently enough. In addition to the concerns over job market data, headcount reductions at BLS have resulted in it scaling back the scope of data collection for the Consumer Price Index, one of the most important gauges of U.S. inflation, watched by investors and policymakers worldwide. Trump's move fed into concerns that politics may influence data collection and publication. "Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act," said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute's Roosevelt Forward. "Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America's economic data is the foundation on which we've built the strongest economy in the world. Blinding the public about the state of the economy has a long track record, and it never ends well." FED CHANGE SOONER THAN EXPECTED Meanwhile, Kugler's surprise decision to leave the Fed at the end of next week presents Trump an earlier-than-expected opportunity to install a potential successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the central bank's Board of Governors. Trump has threatened to fire Powell repeatedly because the Fed chief has overseen a policymaking body that has not cut interest rates as Trump has demanded. Powell's term expires next May, although he could remain on the Fed board until January 31, 2028, if he chooses. Trump will now get to select a Fed governor to replace Kugler and finish out her term, which expires on January 31, 2026. A governor filling an unexpired term may then be reappointed to a full 14-year term. Some speculation has centered on the idea Trump might pick a potential future chair to fill that slot as a holding place. Leading candidates for the next Fed chair include Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and Fed Governor Chris Waller, a Trump appointee who this week dissented with the central bank's decision to keep rates on hold, saying he preferred to start lowering them now. Trump, as he was leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate, said he was happy to have the open slot to fill. "I would not read any political motivation into what [Kugler is] doing, although the consequence of what she's doing is she's calling Trump's bluff," said Derek Tang, an analyst at LH Meyer, a research firm. "She's putting the ball in his court and saying, look, you're putting so much pressure on the Fed, and you want some control over nominees, well, here's a slot." REUTERS
