Trade on agenda as Trump lands in Scotland for diplomacy and golf
TURNBERRY, United Kingdom (AFP) US President Donald Trump landed in Scotland on Friday for a five-day visit set to mix diplomacy, business and leisure, as a huge UK security operation swung into place amid planned protests near his family-owned golf resorts. The president, whose mother was born in Scotland, will split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, in Turnberry on the southwestern coast and Aberdeen in the northeast.Air Force One, carrying the president and White House staff, touched down at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow shortly before 8:30 pm (1930 GMT). Police officers lined the surrounding streets, and several hundred curious Scots came out hoping for a glimpse of the US leader as he then made his way to Turnberry by motorcade.Trump has no public events scheduled for Saturday and is expected to play golf at his picturesque resort before meeting EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday for trade talks.Trump is also due to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the trip.He said the meeting would be "more of a celebration than a workout," appearing to row back on previous comments that a bilateral trade deal struck in May needed "fine-tuning"."The deal is concluded," he told reporters on the tarmac at Prestwick.But the unpredictable American leader appeared unwilling to cede to a UK request for reduced steel and aluminium tariffs.
Trump has exempted British exports from blanket 50 per cent tariffs on both metals, but the fate of that carve-out remains unclear.
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