Trump arrives in Scotland for golf and bilateral talks as EU trade deal nears
Trump told reporters before leaving the U.S. that he will visit his two golf properties in Scotland and meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scottish leader John Swinney.
Trump said he and Starmer would discuss the U.S.-British trade deal and perhaps even "improve" it, but gave no details.
He said Washington was also working hard on a possible trade deal with the European Union, which he said was very keen to make a deal. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said later she would meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday.
EU diplomats say a deal could result in a broad 15% tariff on EU goods, mirroring a framework agreement with Japan reached this week and half of the 30% Trump is threatening to impose by August 1.
Trump has sought to reorder the global economy after imposing a 10% tariff on nearly all trading partners in April and threatening sharply higher rates for many countries to kick in a week from now. Trump says the moves will reduce the U.S. trade deficit and bring in extra revenue, but economists warn the new trade policies could drive up inflation.
The Republican president faces the biggest domestic political crisis of his second term in office. Allies and opponents alike have criticized his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison.
The issue has caused a rare breach with some of Trump's most loyal Make America Great Again supporters, and majorities of Americans and Trump's Republicans say they believe the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
White House officials, frustrated by the ongoing focus on the Epstein saga, are hoping the controversy dies down while Trump is abroad, one person familiar with the matter said.
As part of the visit, Trump will open a second 18-hole course on the Aberdeen property named in honor of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to America.
As he left the White House, Trump told reporters that he looked forward to meeting both Starmer and Swinney, who had publicly backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
"We have a lot of things in Scotland. I have a lot of love - my mother was born in Scotland," he said. "The Scottish leader is a good man, so I look forward to meeting him," Trump said.
The trip, initially billed as a private visit, gives Trump and Starmer a chance to deepen their already warm relationship, with key issues on the agenda to include ending Russia's war in Ukraine, British and U.S. sources said.
British officials have been heartened by what they see as a clear shift in Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine and Russia in recent weeks, a British source said.
The deteriorating situation in Gaza is also likely to come up. Starmer on Thursday said he would hold an emergency call with France and Germany over what he called the "unspeakable and indefensible" suffering and starvation being reported there, and called on Israel to allow aid to enter the Palestinian enclave.
Gaza health authorities say more than 100 people have died from starvation, most of them in recent weeks. Human rights groups have said mass starvation is spreading even as tonnes of food and other supplies sit untouched just outside the territory.
Since being elected last year, Starmer has prioritized good relations with Trump, stressing the importance of Britain's defense and security alliance with the U.S. and being careful to avoid openly criticizing Trump's tariff policies.
Britain sealed the first tariff-reduction deal with the U.S. in May, which reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the UK's aerospace sector, but left steel tariffs in place.
Starmer is expected to press for lower steel tariffs, but sources close to the matter said it was unclear if any breakthrough was possible during Trump's visit.
Trump has described Scotland as a "very special place" and made a similar trip there in 2016 during his first run for the presidency, but he will not necessarily get a warm welcome.
About 70% of Scots have an unfavorable opinion, opens new tab of Trump, while 18% have a favorable opinion, an Ipsos poll in March found.
Scottish police are girding for protests on Saturday in both Aberdeen and in Edinburgh, the country's capital.
Trump will return to Britain from September 17-19 for a state visit hosted by King Charles. It will make Trump the first world leader in modern times to undertake two state visits to Britain. The late Queen Elizabeth hosted him at Buckingham Palace for a three-day state visit in June 2019.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
EU-UK trade deal: Ireland 'not exactly celebrating', minister of state says
Ireland is "not exactly celebrating" the new EU-US trade deal, an Irish minister has said, but added that it provides certainty. US President Donald Trump and European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday they have agreed a US tariff on all EU goods of 15%. That is half the 30% import tax rate Trump had threatened to implement starting on Friday. He said the 27-member bloc would open its markets to US exporters with zero per cent tariffs on certain Richmond, a minister of state in Ireland's foreign affairs department, said the deal "gives us that certainty that has been lacking in the last number of months". Among EU countries, Ireland is the most reliant on the US as an export market."We're not exactly celebrating this, it's not a case that this is a good thing but it's probably the least bad option based on what we were facing a couple of days ago, the prospect of a 30% tariff," Richmond told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster on Monday. "The EU is a tough negotiator but this isn't like any trade deal I have ever experienced before, in my 15 odd years of working on EU trade deals. It is what it is and we move on."He added: "We don't want a tariff war, tariffs are a bad thing. We want stability for businesses and we have that today."Trump has wielded tariffs against major US trade partners in a bid to reorder the global economy and trim the American trade der Leyen has hailed the deal, saying it will bring stability for both allies, who together account for almost a third of global EU's top official described the deal as a "framework" agreement, with further technical details to be negotiated "over the next weeks". Speaking of the pharmaceutical sector, Richmond said there was a "case made" that certain medications would be tariff free. "These are some of the areas we will have to dig into, but absolutely we have a lot to work on," he said. "The pharmaceutical sector isn't just really important to a lot of Irish businesses, it must be said it's really important to a lot of American consumers and crucially patients who rely on these drugs too." 'New era of stability' Speaking following the announcement, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said the news of the trade deal is "very welcome".Martin said the fact that tariffs would still be higher than before would make trade "more expensive and more challenging".However, he added that the agreement will bring "a new era of stability" and will "help protect many jobs in Ireland".Speaking to Good Morning Ulster on Monday, former UK ambassador to the US Lord Kim Darroch said: "As an outcome, it's a relief I guess for everyone in the European Union that it's not worse, but this isn't anything for great celebration, this is a backwards step."In 2024, Ireland exported goods worth £60.4bn ($81.1bn) to the commission has the mandate to negotiate trade deals for the entire bloc - but it still requires approval by EU member states, whose ambassadors will meet on Monday for a debrief from the commission.
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Defiant salon owner vows to fight 'aggressive' trademark battle with beauty giant L'Oreal over her nkd brand
A defiant salon owner has vowed to fight an 'aggressive' trademark battle with beauty giant L'Oréal, which she claims forced her to close her shop. Rebecca Dowdeswell, 49, has been locked in a legal dispute with the global cosmetics firm and says she has already spent more than £30,000 defending her position. The mother-of-two, from Nottingham, runs the waxing salon 'nkd', a business she first trademarked in 2009; however, the protection expired after ten years, requiring renewal. Under current rules, companies have a six-month window to reapply for a lapsed trademark, but if they miss the deadline, they must start a new application from scratch. Ms Dowdeswell admitted she had put the renewal 'on the list' but said it wasn't 'at the top', calling the decision 'naive'. Her business was forced to shut during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the following two years proving 'so hard' for those in the beauty sector. By the time she reapplied for the trademark in 2022, she was met with a formal objection from L'Oréal. The French company argued that her brand name 'nkd' could cause 'consumer confusion' with its own 'Naked' eyeshadow range. Rebecca Dowdeswell, 49, has been locked in a legal dispute with the global cosmetics firm and says she has already spent more than £30,000 defending her position But rather than back down, Ms Dowdeswell has launched a counterclaim and is now taking on the £233billion firm herself. An Intellectual Property Office (IPO) hearing has now been scheduled to take place later this year, after the unyielding business owner demanded that L'Oréal withdraw several of its own trademark applications. She said: 'I don't feel like I should have been put in this situation in the first place. 'People typically don't challenge them; I've stuck it out. 'We sort of turned the tables and filed actions against them to rescind some of the trademark. We're spelt differently and pronounced differently, which is a huge part of my frustration. 'The UK beauty market as a whole is a massive market. We're not Naked, we're nkd. We're very tied to just waxing and hair removal products. They can get away with it because they're L'Oréal - this is sheer corporate bullying.' She said she had no choice but to fight for her company, which she has invested so much time in. 'It's a trend that you see - they know they have little chance of winning, but they know their pockets are so much deeper than my own. 'You would probably get 90 per cent of companies walking away. I was put in an impossible situation really. I could either walk away from the brand I spent the last 13 years building up or I could defend this and fight this, and it's cost me a lot. 'It has been a huge drain on the financial side but also the impact on myself and my family has been enormous.' Companies have a six-month window to reapply for their trademark after it runs out, or else they have to submit an entirely new application. She said the pandemic delayed her reinstating the trademark, and she was then left frustrated when her application was objected. She added: 'It cannot be fair or right that small companies such as mine are put in this position. 'And if the huge corporations didn't routinely exploit their power and abuse the rules of the UK IPO, knowing that they will likely get away with it due to their sheer size and domination of the market, then this situation wouldn't arise.' L'Oréal claims the nkd branding infringes on their line of Naked eyeshadows, despite the two being pronounced differently. The giant trademarked the Naked name in 2004 but left it unused until they launched their Urban Decay brand in 2010. Ms Dowdeswell added: 'The Naked name is for a wide range of goods which they aren't using. 'We've said this is against the rules of the UK IPO, companies shouldn't trademark against goods they don't use. 'We applied to remove the trademark on goods they aren't using. Like cotton wool, shower gel, deodorants and shaving foams. 'All they apply it against is a subset of makeup - just eye shadow pallets. 'They don't need the trademark on such a wide range of products, it's like a monopoly. 'They have no intention of using it, that's where the abuse of the rules comes in. 'Just because they're a massive company, no one ever stands up to them. 'They first applied for the Naked trademark in 2004. That's 20 years they've had some of these goods trademarked. 'We're nkd and we launched in 2009 - L'Oréal then launched the Urban Decay brand, which has the Naked line in 2010.' A L'Oréal spokesperson said previously: 'We are wholly committed to resolving any misunderstanding there might have been with Rebecca Dowdeswell. 'From the beginning of our exchanges with her lawyers in 2022, we have communicated an offer that supports her business aspirations whilst respecting our longstanding trademark rights.
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
100ml liquid restriction set to be scrapped across European airports – but there's a catch
Airports across the European Union (EU) are finally set to scrap the 100ml liquid restrictions for passengers – but there's a catch. The constraint was due to be scrapped last summer, but a European Commission (EC) ruling kept it in place temporarily. Now, aviation hubs with advanced scanners will allow passengers to carry wine, olive oil, perfume and other liquids in containers of up to two litres. Participating airports include travel hotspots such as Berlin, Rome, Amsterdam and Milan, with more expected to follow. While many major airports already have the advanced scanners, not all do, including London's Heathrow. It would cost the airport £1.04bn to install the equipment. There will be no mandatory requirement for airports to implement the new technology and it will be the decision of individual facilities to purchase the scanners. Consequently, the new ruling could cause confusion for passengers departing from an airport with the scanners, but returning home via an airport without them. In this instance, only 100ml would be allowed in the hand luggage on the return flight. The scanners use computed tomography (CT) to scan luggage with increased accuracy. Their introduction also means passengers will no longer have to remove other items from cabin baggage, such as laptops and tablets, further streamlining the security process. The major change was first reported by Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera and confirmed by the European Commission, with the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) set to green light the move imminently. European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told The Independent that they were expecting the ruling to be confirmed 'in the next [few] days.' 'Once individual manufacturer's airport equipment passes tests and gets ECAC approval, it can receive the EU Stamp, permitting the screening of liquids of larger than 100ml. 'After receiving this approval, the equipment may be deployed for use at airports.' The Independent has approached the ECAC for comment. Birmingham and Edinburgh airports to remove the 100ml liquid restriction, while other UK airports still enforce the limit. Under existing rules, hand luggage liquids must be packed in containers carrying no more than 100ml, with some exceptions for baby products and medicines.
