Scotland's first minister holds ‘warm' meeting with Eric Trump in Edinburgh
John Swinney met Eric Trump at his official residence, a listed Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh's New Town, for what both sides described as a routine business meeting that focused on the Trump family's golfing interests.
Scottish officials suspect the US president will visit Scotland this summer to personally open a second championship course at his smaller golf resort in Aberdeenshire. That opening event, expected in June, was touched on during the meeting, but a presidential visit was not discussed.
The meeting, which is Swinney's first with any member of the Trump family, comes after rising tensions between the UK and the White House over the Trump administration's stance on Ukraine and the punitive tariffs it has introduced, including on British steel and aluminium.
The visit suggests Trump is keen to restore friendly links with Scotland, where he owns the Turnberry golfing resort in Ayrshire and a boutique hotel and golf course north of Aberdeen.
Eric Trump, the organisation's executive vice-president, said: 'I'm delighted to say that it was a very warm and friendly meeting and this is the first time that a first minister has invited us to Bute House.
'The first minister thanked me for the Trump Organization's ongoing colossal investment and commitment to Scotland. This is the first time that I've heard those words from the first minister and they were hugely appreciated.'
Swinney's spokesperson insisted there was nothing unusual about the event. 'This is not a political meeting, it's a business meeting,' he said. 'We are trying to act as a responsible government would and treat business figures in the same way.'
Until now, Donald Trump has had a chilly relationship with the Scottish government. He publicly fell out with the former first minister Alex Salmond over his backing for offshore windfarms near Trump's Aberdeenshire course.
Keir Starmer presented Trump with an invitation for a second state visit from King Charles at the White House late last month, and suggested the king might meet Trump in Scotland to plan that event.
Swinney has faced intense pressure from within the Scottish National party to condemn the proposal. Stephen Flynn, the SNP's Westminster leader, said on X that the prime minister 'better get back up off his knees and revoke that offer of a state visit'.
Swinney has rejected those challenges, and told MSPs at Holyrood last week that the state visit should only be reconsidered if Trump continued to threaten and undermine Zelenskyy. Otherwise, he said, Starmer's offer of a second state visit was prudent given the seriousness of the crisis in Ukraine.
Eric Trump is also expected to visit Turnberry, where pro-Palestinian activists heavily damaged parts of his golf course and sprayed pro-Gaza protests on the grass on Saturday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Poll suggests CA Dems prefer Newsom over Harris in 2028
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is losing political altitude in her own backyard. A new poll suggests California Democrats prefer Gavin Newsom over Kamala Harris in a potential 2028 presidential primary. The Politico survey shows the California governor leading Harris with 25% support compared to her 19% among registered Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independents in California. Moreover, less than a quarter of California Democrats - just 23 percent - are very excited about the prospect of another Harris presidential bid. The survey shows a clear majority - 58 percent - are 'not excited' about Harris 2028. California Democrats are a bit more enthusiastic for Newsom though 51 percent are still 'not excited.' As Democrats remain leaderless following Joe Biden 's exit from the White House , Newsom has emerged as a leading candidate to unite the party against Donald Trump . Meanwhile, Harris has largely remained largely out of the political fray since losing the general election to Trump in 2024. 'There's affection for her, but maybe less confidence that she would be a strong candidate,' said Jack Citrin, a UC Berkeley political science professor who helped author the poll. The survey does show Newsom and Harris would both be leading contenders in the California primary. However, Harris' inability to garner clear support in her own home state is a doomsday scenario for her chances to grab the nomination. '(Newsom is) in the news everyday. If you think someone is running, you're more likely to support them,' Citrin added. Harris also indicated that she's not looking to jump back into the political machine following her landslide loss to Trump. In July, the former vice president said she will not run for California governor ending months of speculation. Harris has also not consistently opposed the Trump administration compared to other Democratic contenders. In contrast, Newsom has spent most of his remaining term as governor publicly resisting Trump's political agenda, including by redrawing California political districts and opposing ICE immigration raids. Additionally, California under Newsom is suing the administration over Trump federalizing the state's National Guard amid anti-Trump protests in LA over the summer. In the past, Harris has struggled at securing the nomination in competitive Democratic primaries. During the 2020 Democratic election primary, she ended her campaign before voting even began in the Iowa caucus.
The National
27 minutes ago
- The National
Could Scotland challenge hotels housing asylum seekers? Legal insights
On Tuesday, the High Court granted a temporary injunction to Epping Forest District Council, blocking refugees from being allowed to stay at a former hotel. The ruling blocks asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in the Essex town, and current residents must be removed by September 12. While the court ruling that asylum seekers be removed from a hotel in Epping, Essex was won by the council against the hotel over the breach of planning rules, Reform UK and far-right protesters are taking the injunction as a "victory" for them. READ MORE: 'Emboldened' far-right advertise Perth asylum seeker hotel protest Nigel Farage has stated that the Epping community "stood up bravely, despite being slandered as far-right, and have won". He has further called for peaceful protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers "across Britain" to put pressure on local authorities. Questions are being asked on what the implications of the ruling are for Scotland, and whether Scottish councils could take similar action. Nick McKerrell, senior lecturer in law at Glasgow Caledonian University, told The National that his view was that Scotland is unlikely to see councils block hotels housing asylum seekers, despite the potentially landmark ruling in Essex. What happened in the Epping ruling? The ruling from Mr Justice Eyre is significant but framed in "quite a specific way in the framework of English planning law", McKerrell explained. "Essentially the argument of Epping Council is that the hotel, by housing asylum seekers, is no longer acting as a hotel therefore it is in breach of the planning permission that was granted to allow it to operate in such a way. 'In legal terms, the council are arguing there is a change of use but not only that there has been a 'material' change of use – which means the change is so significant that it requires a new planning permission application if it wants to house asylum seekers." READ MORE: 'This rhetoric leads to firebombs': Humza Yousaf issues warning over asylum debate McKerrell added that a significant point was that the court did not make a ruling on whether they agreed with the council's position. The interim injunction (a court order banning behaviour – an interdict in Scots Law) is about the use of the hotel until a resolutions at a later hearing. "So he is saying that he will not make a ruling on whether the hotel is breaching planning law but it is saying that because of the broader issues raised it should not operate as a location for asylum seekers in the interim." Ultimately in his ruling on Tuesday, the judge conceded that "housing destitute asylum seekers is an important public policy," McKerrell summarised, "but there is also a public interest in ensuring that planning control is followed within local authorities which are ultimately responsible for it." Could Scotland challenge hotels housing asylum seekers? The judge in the Epping Forest case was keen to emphasise that his decision was very 'fact sensitive' so could not be seen as a precedent, McKerrell stressed. "He actually outlined a number of different contradictory decisions in the English courts on whether using hotels to house asylum seekers is a 'material' difference from operating 'usually' as a hotel. Scotland also has its own planning laws. 'Here it would require a local authority to challenge a hotel for breaching planning law. Scots planning law uses similar terms to those argued in the English court over change of 'material use'. Generally though that would be difficult in this context given councils in Scotland generally have been involved in discussions with the Home Office and contractors to agree to bring asylum seekers into the local area." He added: "A group that was angered by asylum seekers being housed for example as seen in Falkirk at the weekend would not be able to raise such an action." 'In England the numbers of asylum seekers are much greater and enter into direct contracts with the hotels which may not involve the council as can be seen in Epping where the District Council brought the action'. How many asylum seekers in the UK in 2025? The most recent Home Office data showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March. This was down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079. New figures – published among the usual quarterly immigration data release – are expected on Thursday, showing numbers in hotels at the end of June. Figures for hotels published by the Home Office date back to December 2022 and showed numbers hit a peak at the end of September 2023 when there were 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels. How many hotels are in use for asylum seekers? It is thought there were more than 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023. Labour said this has since been reduced to fewer than 210.
Western Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Former Salmond staffer rejects Sturgeon claims in book as ‘obviously false'
Geoff Aberdein, who worked for Mr Salmond when he was first minister, hit out at Ms Sturgeon, saying: 'I was brought up that you didn't speak ill of the dead. 'But I think if you're going to speak ill of the dead, at least make your claims accurate.' Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon with her memoir, Frankly, which was published last week (Jane Barlow/PA) He told the Holyrood Sources podcast that Mr Salmond's widow Moira was 'particularly upset and frustrated at a lot of what has been said' about her late husband, who died suddenly in October 2024. Mr Aberdein continued: 'I think it was important to set out and correct the record not just because Alex is not in position to defend himself, but for myself as well and the series of other officials and civil servants that have contacted me.' Claims that Mr Salmond was the person who leaked the story of the sexual harassment allegations against him are 'obviously false', Mr Aberdein insisted. He said that when his former boss took the phone call to say the story about the allegations was being published by the Daily Record he was actually meeting lawyers to 'draft a legal summons to prevent Nicola Sturgeon's Government from making the allegations public'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'To suggest Alex was simultaneously leaking documents deeply damaging to his reputation whilst at the same time paying lawyers a lot of money to get a court order to prevent publication of the same material is just utterly absurd.' Mr Salmond went on to be acquitted of all the charges against him in a court case in 2020. Mr Aberdein also dismissed claims by Ms Sturgeon that Mr Salmond 'didn't read' the white paper on independence which had been produced by the Scottish government in the run up to the 2014 referendum. In her recently published memoir, Frankly, Ms Sturgeon spoke out about her 'cold fury' with her former leader over his 'abdication of responsibility' on the key document. Mr Aberdein – who said he would not be reading the book – accepted that his former boss 'delegated the responsibility for drafting the white paper to Nicola Sturgeon'. Mr Aberdein said he wanted to 'correct the record' following comments made about his former boss, Alex Salmond (Andrew Milligan/PA) However he insisted: 'To suggest, as I think was the purpose of this story, that he wasn't engaged in the process of a prospectus for independence is utterly nonsense. The former Salmond chief of staff also rejected claims that Mr Salmond was 'apparently against same-sex marriage' – saying that this was 'demonstrably false'. Mr Aberdein told the podcast Mr Salmond had 'declared his personal support for gay marriage for the first time' in a newspaper article in April 2011. And he added that while the SNP election manifesto that year had pledged to consult on the issue Mr Salmond 'chose to come out… excuse the pun, the turn of phrase, ahead of that result, to say that he personally supported it.' With the SNP having won the 2011 Holyrood election, Mr Aberdein recalled 'being in the room with advisors, civil servants and indeed ministers about how we would go about reassuring different sections of our society about that legislation, particularly religious leaders and other civic leaders'. He also made the 'obvious point' that 'if Alex Salmond didn't want legislation to be progressed, he was the first minister of a majority SNP government, it wouldn't have been progressed'. Mr Aberdeen said: 'The point falls down on that alone.'
