Two days before a high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump has played golf and tweeted from one of his namesake resorts, blaming his predecessor for Russian election meddling and lashing out at the free press from foreign soil.

Key points: About 10,000 people turn out for protest marches in Edinburgh during Mr Trump's visit

About 10,000 people turn out for protest marches in Edinburgh during Mr Trump's visit The US President is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki this week

The US President is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki this week But Mr Trump said he did not expect Mr Putin to accept responsibility for meddling in the 2016 election

Aides had said the US President would spend the weekend preparing to meet Mr Putin in Helsinki, but Mr Trump's tweets showed other topics were on his mind.

"I have arrived in Scotland and will be at Trump Turnberry for two days of meetings, calls and hopefully, some golf — my primary form of exercise!" he tweeted, referencing his seaside golf resort.

"The weather is beautiful, and this place is incredible! Tomorrow I go to Helsinki for a Monday meeting with Vladimir Putin."

Donald Trump waves as he plays golf at Turnberry golf club. ( AP: Peter Morrison )

A demonstrator holds a placard near the Scottish golf resort owned by Donald Trump during his stay. ( Reuters: Henry Nicholls )

Mr Trump was later seen playing the Turnberry links, several holes of which are visible from a nearby beach, where dozens of people staged a protest picnic Saturday.

He was filmed waving at protesters as they shouted "No Trump, No KKK, No Racist USA!" before resuming his game.

He was also seen posing for photos.

A line of police, some on horseback, stood between the course and protesters.

There was plenty of security on hand as Mr Trump took a turn around his golf course. ( AP: Peter Morrison )

Snipers perched atop a nearby tower overlooking the vast property.

The protesters were among the tens of thousands who came out in Scotland and England in opposition to the US President's visit.

Some 10,000 people marched on Saturday, local time, through the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, while police searched for a paraglider who breached a no-fly zone and flew a protest banner over the resort in western Scotland where Mr Trump and his wife, Melania, are staying for the weekend.

The glider carried a banner that said "Trump: Well Below Par" over the resort on Friday night, local time, to protest his environmental and immigration policies.

Sorry, this video has expired Tens of thousands line London's streets to protest Donald Trump's visit.

'Donald Trump is not welcome here'

In Edinburgh, anti-fascist groups and political activists joined those who said they had never protested before, weaving through the capital's streets waving an array of makeshift anti-Trump banners.

A choir, a bagpiper, a tambourine band and poetry readings added to the carnival spirit.

"Donald Trump is not welcome here," Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard told the crowd.

"The horrific scenes at the Mexican border are just the latest example of his repudiation of decent human values."

Protesters also launched a 6-metre-tall blimp depicting Mr Trump as an angry baby that had flown over anti-Trump protests in London on Friday.

Mr Trump has spent the week-long trip causing waves in Europe, first at a NATO summit in Brussels, where he questioned the value of the decades-old alliance, and later in Britain, where he faced fallout from a stunning newspaper interview in which he undermined British Prime Minister Theresa May at an especially vulnerable time.

Sorry, this video has expired Donald Trump backtracks on Brexit comments during joint press conference with Theresa May.

Trump shifts the blame to Obama

But Mr Trump was also keeping tabs on domestic issues, including the investigations into Russian election meddling.

In his weekend tweets, Mr Trump tried to blame former President Barack Obama for failing to stop the Russians from working to help him win the 2016 election.

"The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama administration, not the Trump administration," Mr Trump tweeted, asking why they did not "do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?"

It was Mr Trump's first response to indictments announced on Friday in Washington against 12 Russian military intelligence officers who allegedly hacked into the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump's Democratic rival, and the Democratic Party, and released tens of thousands of emails in a sweeping Kremlin conspiracy to help Mr Trump.

Mr Trump denies that he or any campaign aides were involved with the Russian campaign and repeatedly dismisses the ongoing investigation that produced the indictments as a "witch hunt".

Mr Trump told reporters he planned to raise election meddling with Mr Putin but said he did not expect Mr Putin to ever accept blame.

"I will absolutely bring that up. I don't think you'll have any 'Gee, I did it. I did it. You got me'," Mr Trump said, referring to Mr Putin.

Leading Democratic senators asked Mr Trump in a letter on Saturday to scrap the summit if he was not prepared "to make Russia's attack on our election the top issue you will discuss".

Sorry, this video has expired Meeting Vladimir Putin will be easy, the US President says.

And John McCain, a leading Republican senator and Trump critic, said Mr Trump must hold Mr Putin accountable or not proceed with the meeting.

But Mr Trump's chief diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, told journalists traveling with him that he was confident the meeting would "put America in a better place".

Mr Trump's repeated attacks on the news media while overseas — he also lashed out at NBC News and The Sun newspaper during a news conference — has alarmed free speech advocates, especially as Mr Trump is set to hold a joint press availability with Mr Putin, whose country is known for being deeply hostile to a free press.

White House Correspondents' Association president Margaret Talev said in a statement that "saying a news organisation isn't real doesn't change the facts and won't stop us from doing our jobs".

Mr Trump's decision to stay yet again at a property he owns — and has repeatedly advertised during the trip — caught the attention of ethics experts, who say Mr Trump should not profit off the presidency.

AP