'Shame on you, Donald John': Stornoway shopowners protest against Trump

The owners of a shop on the Scottish island where Donald Trump’s mother grew up have flown a banner protesting the US President.

Sarah Venus and her husband Peter, who own the shop Lewis Revival in Stornoway, have set up a banner reading “Shame on you, Donald John.”

The pair say they were prompted to unfurl their protest after Trump clashed with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a heated Oval Office meeting on February 28.

Sarah and Peter are also handing out flyers for islanders’ vehicles and house windows.

The couple says that when the banner first appeared a few days ago, several men of the same name “wondered what they were being accused of.”

Sarah, who is originally from America, but has received British citizenship, said: “It occurred to me that a lot of people don’t know that Trump’s mother, who emigrated to the US, was born here.

“And so, in good understated Hebridean fashion, we figured this wording would be appropriate to use his entire name, as our mothers do when they’re displeased with us.”

Peter, a hospital nurse, added: “The vast majority of people have been very supportive. There is the humour of the fact that Donald John is a relatively common name here.

“So there’s probably a few people who are maybe not up to date with international affairs or wondering whether they’ve done something wrong.

“But generally, I think that the reaction has been very positive, with people stopping to take photographs, people coming into the shop to ask what poster is about, but also, you know, to congratulate us for actually taking a stand on that.”

Trump’s mother, Mary Anne Trump (born MacLeod), grew up on the island and married real-estate developer Fred Trump before emigrating to America.

The American tycoon owns the Menie Estate golf course in Balmedie, near Aberdeen and the Trump Turnberry Hotel and Resort in Girvan.

Trump said in October about the Isle of Lewis: “My mother was great. She was a Stornoway.

“The Hebrides. That’s, you know, that’s really serious Scottish. The Scottish people, they’re tough people.

“They’re good people. Actually, they’re very great people. But they’re good fighters.”