US president will not travel to UK in next two weeks, spokesperson says, after speculation led to threat of protests

Donald Trump will not be making a surprise visit to his Scottish golf course in the next two weeks, the White House has said, as the threat of short-notice protests mounted in Britain.

A spokeswoman for the US president said on Monday that no trip was imminent, amid mounting speculation that Trump was planning to make an unofficial visit to the UK on his way to or from the G20 summit in Hamburg this week.

“While we look forward to visiting the UK, it will not happen in the next two weeks,” the spokeswoman said.

Trump will start his European trip in Warsaw on Thursday, when he will address 12 central European, Baltic and western Balkan leaders, before travelling to Germany on Friday.



Protesters were planning to swing into action at short notice at his golf courses in Scotland after one Conservative aide fuelled speculation that Trump might make a flying visit, saying: “There are currently no plans for him to visit. But his travel plans are a matter for him.”

A formal state visit, which was expected to take place over the summer after Theresa May extended an invitation personally when she visited the White House late last year, was postponed last month amid fears that it could be disrupted by mass protests.

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But Whitehall sources confirmed the government had been warned that the president could visit Turnberry, one of his two golf resorts in Scotland, during his trip to Europe, between attending the G20 summit in Hamburg and joining celebrations for Bastille Day in France on 14 July.

Trump would be expected to come to Downing Street to meet the prime minister for informal talks as part of any such visit, though final confirmation would be likely to be given with just 24 hours’ notice to minimise the risk of disruption.

Even an unofficial visit would require a major security operation involving Air Force One and “the beast”, the bomb-proof limousine used by US presidents.

May invited Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration when she became the first foreign leader to visit him in the White House. In February activists, MPs and trade unions vowed to hold the largest demonstrations in UK history if Trump made a state visit to the UK. They formed the Stop Trump coalition and even hired a permanent staff member.

In early June, just after the UK general election, it emerged that Trump had told May he did not want to go ahead with the state visit until the British public supported his coming, fearing large-scale demonstrations.

After the latest rumours of a presidential visit, the Stop Trump campaigner and Guardian columnist Owen Jones took to Twitter to place his followers on high alert, tweeting:

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of the union Unison – which is a member of the Stop Trump coalition, said: “If Donald Trump thinks he can come here under the radar, then he’s wrong. He’s an intolerant and small-minded individual, who is despised by many.

“If he comes here, people will take to the streets to protest against his deplorable values, which fuel such hatred and division.”

Nick Dearden, the director of Global Justice Now, also a member of the Stop Trump coalition, said: “We know Trump is now scared to come to the UK on the state visit which Theresa May foolishly offered him, because he will face one of the largest protests in history.

“This month’s visit, if it happens, is a way of him sneaking in the back door in the hope that he can save face for himself and May.

“But we’ll oppose him whenever and however he comes to the UK because Trump is very bad news on some of the most important issues humanity faces: climate change, migration, inequality, corporate regulation.

“We won’t allow Trump’s presidency to be normalised, and we’ll make sure Theresa May pays a political cost for supporting Trump and his politics of hate.”

Simon Bullock, a climate campaigner with Friends of the Earth, another member of the Stop Trump coalition, said: “It would be no surprise if Donald Trump arrived in the UK with little fanfare to try and avoid the huge public protests that a state visit is likely to generate.

“The US withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty is an international disgrace which puts the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the globe into jeopardy.

“Theresa May must make it perfectly clear that there will be no trade deal with the US while President Trump refuses to face up to his international responsibilities on cutting emissions.”

Lindsey German, the convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, said: “Trump’s sneak visit here is as unwelcome as his proposed state visit. He has endorsed the rightwing fundamentalist regime in Saudi Arabia, dropped the mother of all bombs on Afghanistan and the US-led coalition is responsible for many civilian deaths in Mosul.

“He is a threat to world peace and should be stopped. His travel ban on people from six Muslim countries only helps stoke racism.

“The protests earlier this year have forced him to arrive by stealth to avoid the opposition to him coming on to the streets. I am confident that the opposite will happen, and we will be part of any protests against him and his policies – and against the special relationship with Theresa May that is so toxic.”

On his tour of Europe, Trump is breaking with tradition by visiting Poland before the G20 summit, and before a presidential visit to traditional allies Britain, France or Germany.

Jarosław Kaczyński, a former Polish prime minister and founder of the ruling Law and Justice party, accused Britain of jealousy over Trump’s decision to visit Poland first. “We have new success, Trump’s visit,” he said. “Others envy it, the British are attacking us because of it.”

Meanwhile, Trump has been accused of encouraging violence against journalists after he tweeted a video of himself at a pro-wrestling event throwing a man with a CNN logo for a head to the floor.

Play Video 0:28 The video Trump tweeted of himself 'wrestling CNN to the ground'

Ben Jacobs contributed to this report