2 days ago
Golf Force One: Trump's armour-plated buggy is on display at Royal Turnberry as Secret Service deploy snipers in ring of steel to protect president's life
Donald Trump 's new armour-plated buggy has been on display at Royal Turnberry as the president enjoys a round of golf during his trip to Scotland.
It is the latest addition to his security detail, just ten months after he survived the world-famous assassination attempt while at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service appeared to be taking every precaution on the outing as there were also a stream of army trucks, road checkpoints, and snipers positioned in a ring of steel to protect the president's life.
But the most noteworthy security feature on the rural Turnberry course was an additional security measure in the form of a black-clad, reinforced golf cart.
Although the president opted to drive a standard-looking white buggy around the course, a distinctly bulkier off-road vehicle trailed him closely throughout.
Security experts believe the cart bore all the 'tell-tale signs' of being a heavily armoured protection vehicle.
It bore similarities to 'The Beast' – the official US presidential car that accompanies the president on most journeys.
The machine has been famous for decades and is believed to bulletproof and heavily armoured, featuring Bond-style gadgets, including smoke screens and electrified door handles.
And the armoured buggy appears to be the golf version of The Beast and the newest addition to the presidential fleet, sparking interest across the armouring and close-protection world.
Experts told The Telegraph that the biggest giveaway the buggy was armoured was the black band wrapping around it.
One expert, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'From those photos, that is 100 per cent armoured,' he said. 'The windscreen is a giveaway, as are the side panels, doors, and the large panel at the rear above the load tray.'
He identified its model as a Polaris Ranger XP and revealed Trump's cart would be designed to offer passengers as much protection as possible, while remaining light enough to not damage the course.
But it is thought that the front of the buggy, alongside its wheels and tyres, are not significantly adapted from the off-the-shelf model.
This is because it's 'not a tank' and is an 'defensive, not offensive' armoured vehicle, according to experts.
It is thought the vehicle was accompanying Trump to allow him a safe getaway if he was fired upon while out on the exposed golf course.
A US Secret Service spokesman said: 'The US Secret Service employs a variety of tools and resources to safeguard our protectees. In order to maintain operational security, the Secret Service does not discuss the specific means and methods used to conduct our protective operations.'
His level of vulnerability while playing his favourite sport was revealed when, on September 15 2024, his guards spotted a man aiming a rifle from shrubbery at a member of Mr Trump's security team at West Palm Beach, Florida.
The gunman was chased away before firing a shot, but the episode underscored how exposed Trump could be while golfing.
Just two months previously, on July 13 2024, Trump had survived an assassination attempt when shots were fired from an AR-15-style rifle as he spoke at an open-air campaign rally near Butler in Pensylvania on July.
In scenes which went around the world in moments, one of the bullets clipped his ear and 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, the gunman, was shot and killed by the US Secret Service.
The security failures around the incident caused the Secret Service to be widely criticised.
When Trump touched down at Prestwick Airport on Friday night, the UK's policing services stepped in to help protect the president.
The private visit has now commandeered almost a third of Police Scotland's manpower and this morning officers in high viz vests were seen swarming over greens, tees and fairways, while snipers overlooked it from watchtowers.
Police also have road closures in place, with limited access for locals and members of the media. Amid the search, a few golfers were also spotted at the course, enjoying an early-morning game.
A 'ring of steel' has been established at Turnberry, with 10ft perimeter fencing erected as security measures are ramped up by officers with road closures in place.
Chinook helicopters were at Prestwick Airport earlier this week, while US military planes and helicopters gathered on Monday. A convoy of vehicles and staff were being flown in to keep him safe during his visit.
Ordinarily his bullet-proof motorcade could include up to 50 vehicles, some carrying anti-aircraft guns and hi-tech radio equipment, while others are designated for family, close aides and members of the Press.
Several black SUVs were unloaded from two US Air Force C-17 cargo planes at Prestwick on Wednesday, with another three of the aircraft arriving in the afternoon.
The helicopters that operate as Marine One when the President is on board cost between $16,700 and nearly $20,000 per hour to operate, according to Pentagon data for fiscal year 2022.
The modified Boeing 747s that serve as the iconic Air Force One cost about $200,000 per hour to fly. Military cargo aircraft also fly ahead of the President with his armoured limousines and other official vehicles.
The heightened security comes as Trump continues to wade into politically charged topics as soon as he touched down on Friday.
After landing, he told Europe to 'get your act together' over illegal immigration - branding it a 'horrible invasion' that is 'killing Europe'.
Trump is set to meet Sir Keir Starmer and Scotland's First Minister John Swinney on Monday, before opening a second 18-hole course at his estate in Aberdeenshire.
He will also enter trade talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen this afternoon after officials from both sides said they were nearing an agreement.
But an EU diplomat claimed 'everyone is quite tense' - after Trump threatened 'you're not going to have Europe anymore' if illegal immigration continues.
It comes as Trump is under fresh fire back home over his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, threatening to mire his Scottish golf trip.
As he faced huge crowds at Prestwick Airport, the President denied reports he had been briefed about his name appearing in files pertaining to the case against the late Epstein.
Meanwhile, anti-migrant sentiment has rocked Britain again this week, with a string of demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.
The demonstrations have taken place after an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl by allegedly attempting to kiss her.
An elite division of police officers will be assembled to monitor social media for signs of growing anti-migrant sentiment amid fears of fresh riots this summer.
Detectives are set to be drawn from forces around the country as the Government scrambles to crack down on potential violence by flagging up early signs of civil unrest.
It comes amid warnings Britain could face another summer of disorder just 12 months after a wave of riots sparked scenes of chaos following the Southport murders.
While he slammed immigration, Trump told reporters outside the airport: 'I like your prime minister. He's slightly more liberal than I am... but he's a good man... he got a trade deal done. It's a good deal for the UK.'
The pair are expected to discuss potential changes to the UK-US trade deal which came into force last month.
Earlier this month, Trump warned the EU he would impose 30 percent tariffs on European goods unless an agreement was reached by the beginning of August.
The European Commission responded by saying it would consider retaliatory measures if talks failed.
Markets responded positively to reports of a 15 percent tariff level, viewing it as a compromise that may avoid an escalating trade dispute.
In a statement on Friday, von der Leyen confirmed the meeting with Trump and said the purpose was to continue discussions on transatlantic trade relations.
Upon his arrival in Scotland, the US President also confirmed the meeting.
'We'll see if we can get a deal done,' Trump said in an interview with CNBC. 'I think we have a good 50–50 chance.'
Sir Keir will reportedly also press Trump on whether more can be done to end the war in Gaza during their meeting on Monday.
The Prime Minister's urging for securing a ceasefire raises further risk of a clash with Trump, The Telegraph first reported.
After landing at Glasgow Prestwick at about 8.30pm local time on Friday, the US President denied reports he had been briefed about his name appearing in files pertaining to the case against sex offender Epstein.
He added he had not 'really been following' the justice department's interview with Epstein's convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
'A lot of people have been asking me about pardons' for Maxwell, Trump said. 'Obviously, this is no time to be talking about pardons.
'You're making a very big thing over something that's not a big thing.'
Trump's ongoing Scots golf course battles
Mr Trump's ties and troubles in Scotland are intertwined with golf, after he first proposed building a course on a stretch of the North Sea coast north of Aberdeen in 2006.
The Trump International Scotland development was backed by the Scottish government, but it was fiercely opposed by some local residents and conservationists.
They claimed the stretch of coastal sand dunes was home to some of the country's rarest wildlife, including skylarks, kittiwakes, badgers and otters.
Local fisherman Michael Forbes hit the headlines after he refused the Trump Organization's offer of £350,000 to sell his family's rundown farm in the centre of the estate.
Mr Forbes still lives on his property, which Mr Trump once called 'a slum and a pigsty.'
'If it weren't for my mother, would I have walked away from this site? I think probably I would have, yes,' Mr Trump said in 2008 amid the planning battle over the course. 'Possibly, had my mother not been born in Scotland, I probably wouldn't have started it.'
The golf course was eventually approved and opened in 2012. Some of the grander aspects of the planned development, including 500 houses and a 450-room hotel, have not been realised, and the course has never made a profit.
A second 18-hole course at the resort is scheduled to open this summer. It's named the MacLeod Course in honour of the President's mother.
There has been less controversy about Mr Trump's other Scottish golf site, the long-established Turnberry resort, which he bought in 2014. He has pushed for the British Open to be held at the course for the first time since 2009.
Turnberry is one of ten courses on the rotation to host the Open, but organisers say there are logistical issues about 'road, rail and accommodation infrastructure' that must be resolved before it can return.
A history of America's golfers-in-chief
Family financial interests aside, Donald Trump isn't the first sitting US president to golf in Scotland. That was Dwight D Eisenhower, who played in Turnberry in 1959. George W. Bush visited the famed course at Gleneagles in 2005 but didn't play.
Many historians trace golf back to Scotland in the Middle Ages. Among the earliest known references to game was a Scottish Parliament resolution in 1457 that tried to ban it, along with football, because of fears both were distracting men from practising archery - then considered vital to national defence.
The first US president to golf regularly was William Howard Taft, who served from 1909 to 1913 and ignored warnings from his predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt, that playing too much would make it seem like he wasn't working hard enough.
Woodrow Wilson played nearly every day but Sundays, and even had the Secret Service paint his golf balls red so he could practice in the snow, according to Mike Trostel, director of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Warren G Harding trained his dog Laddie Boy to fetch golf balls while he practiced. Lyndon B. Johnson's swing was sometimes described as looking like a man trying to kill a rattlesnake.
Bill Clinton, who liked to joke that he was the only president whose game improved while in office, restored a putting green on the White House's South Lawn. It was originally installed by Eisenhower, who was such an avid user that he left cleat marks in the wooden floors of the Oval Office by the door leading out to it.
Mr Bush stopped golfing after the start of the Iraq war in 2003 because of the optics. Barack Obama had a golf simulator installed in the White House that Mr Trump upgraded during his first term, Mr Trostel said.
John F Kennedy largely hid his love of the game as president, but he played on Harvard's golf team and nearly made a hole-in-one at California's renowned Cypress Point Golf Club just before the 1960 Democratic National Convention.
'I'd say, between President Trump and President John F Kennedy, those are two of the most skilled golfers we've had in the White House,' Mr Trostel said.
Mr Trostel said Mr Trump has a handicap index - how many strokes above par a golfer is likely to score - of a very strong 2.5. However, he has not posted an official round with the US Golf Association since 2021. That's better than Joe Biden's handicap of 6.7, which also might be outdated, and Mr Obama, who once described his own handicap as an 'honest 13.'
