Hundreds of protesters are due to gather at Donald Trump’s Ayrshire golf resort on Friday as the US presidential hopeful attends its official relaunch.
The Stand Up To Trump protest is being staged at Turnberry after almost 587,000 people signed a petition calling for the billionaire to be banned from entering the UK.
Mr Trump is travelling to Scotland for the reopening of the resort following a £200 million refurbishment.
But protesters say he is not welcome, claiming he has “ramped up levels of racism, Islamophobia, and bigotry” during his presidential bid.
The presumptive Republican candidate’s proposed policies include building a wall on the country’s border with Mexico and temporarily banning Muslims from entering America.
The protest is supported by a number of organisations including Stand Up to Racism Scotland, the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and Unite the Union Scotland.
Keir McKechnie, spokesman for Stand Up to Racism Scotland, said: “His message of hate is one that we’ll challenge and we would not encourage anyone to support him in his presidency.
“Although this protest happens to be taking place in Scotland, we want to represent people across the whole of the UK and beyond who reject Trump’s racism and Islamophobia.”
Jonathan Shafi, co-ordinator of Scotland Against Trump, has organised coaches to take protesters to Turnberry.
He told the BBC: “We’ll be organising a protest which will reflect the broad opinion of Scots that his values are incompatible with ours.
“The demonstration on Friday I think will reflect that very well.”
Mr Shafi added that Mr Trump’s brand is “damaging to the Scottish economy”, but Christina Auld, owner of the Links Lodge near the golf resort, told the broadcaster that the property tycoon is “good for the area”.
She said: “I think the whole village is looking forward to him coming here. He’s made amazing changes to the hotel. I’m not a golfer but a lot of my friends are members and they say the golf course is just fantastic – it plays well and they are all loving it.
“I think he’s good for the area. He’s bringing in a lot of revenue. The shops will be better. The restaurants round about. The historic sights will benefit from him. I just think he’s going to make a great difference to the area.”
Police Scotland said it is working closely with relevant agencies ahead of Mr Trump’s visit.
“We do not reveal operational detail around security issues,” the force said.
“Police Scotland has consulted with a number of protest groups in order to facilitate peaceful protest. This will be policed appropriately on the day.”
