Trump visit gives Swinney golden opportunity to butter up president on Scotch whisky tariffs exemption
Donald Trump and John Swinney are not natural friends. They couldn't be further apart politically speaking and personality-wise.
However, it seems is enjoying his foreign holiday enough for the pair to park their differences and bond over their mutual love for .
As Mr Trump departed the White House, he branded Mr Swinney a "good man" before turning up the love suggesting he had heard "good things" about the SNP leader. As close to an endorsement as it gets from Mr Trump.
The White House extended an invite for a one-to-one meeting between the president and first minister but last night came another opportunity, in the form of a VIP dinner.
Sources close to the Aberdeenshire banquet, where seafood was on the menu, described it as a "productive, interesting" event.
I am told Mr Swinney and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sat on either side of the president in an evening where they talked golf and trade in the company of around 20 others.
POTUS (president of the United States) had earlier said he wanted to see Scotland "thrive" and clearly the presence of both Mr Swinney and Mr Starmer created the golden opportunity to butter up the president who is mulling over reducing Scotch whisky tariffs to zero.
Sources in the room described the first minister as "landing some arguments" before the prime minister departed the event early. Ditching dessert apparently.
But the dinner had all the ingredients to be an awkward encounter.
The first minister previously called for the upcoming state visit with Mr Trump to be axed in the wake of the Volodymyr Zelenskyy White House shouting match earlier this year.
And in true Mr Trump style, just hours before the Aberdeenshire summit the president had been freewheeling live on TV about Scottish independence - Mr Swinney's lifetime goal - saying a second vote on the country's future should be restricted to "50 or 75 years".
An eye-bulging intervention from the leader of the free world.The pair met again on Tuesday morning to talk business in a more formal, sober setting on the Aberdeenshire estate.
Mr Swinney's team were wanting to talk about the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Read more:
Scotland has been at the epicentre of international politics for the past five days where, it seems, Mr Trump has been in listening mode.
His new political friends will be hoping they have persuaded him to act harder on the pressing issues in the Middle East.
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