Donald Trump to meet First Minister John Swinney on golf course on final day of Scotland trip

Daily Record

8 hours ago

Donald Trump and John Swinney are expected to speak about whisky tariffs and the Middle East during their meeting.
Donald Trump's four-day visit to Scotland wraps up on Tuesday with a meeting with First Minister John Swinney.
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The two leaders are expected to discuss issues including whisky tariffs and the Middle East during a one-to-one chat, before the US President opens a brand new course at his golf resort in Aberdeenshire.
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The trip has been dominated by trade talks with the EU. Trump has already played a round of golf at his Turnberry course, where he welcomed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Monday.
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The pair then boatded Air Force One and flew to RAF Lossiemouth, before joining Swinney for a private dinner at Trump's plush resort in Balmedie, near Aberdeen.
The visit has sparked a major police operation across Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, with extra officers deployed for protest marches in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Before the trip, the White House said Trump and Starmer would focus on trade between the countries.
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Despite an agreement being signed, a 10 per cent tariff is still being slapped on Scotch whisky one of Scotland's biggest global exports.
Asked if that tariff could be dropped or eliminated as a result of the meeting with the prime minister, Trump said: "We'll talk about that, I didn't know whisky was a problem. I'm not a big whisky drinker, but maybe I should be."
Swinney has vowed to raise the issue personally.
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A Scottish government spokesperson said the dinner on Monday would provide Swinney with an opportunity "specifically to make the case for tariff exemptions for Scotland's world class whisky and salmon sector"
On Monday, the first minister told the BBC: "Tariffs are very important for the Scottish economy and obviously Scotch whisky is a unique product.
"Obviously, the trade deal with the United States provides a degree of stability for economic connections with the United States but the application of tariffs is increasing the costs for the Scotch whisky industry.
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"So one of my objectives will be to make the case to President Trump that Scotch whisky should be exempted from those tariffs," he added.
President Trump also took the media conference at Turnberry as an opportunity to hit out at wind turbines, which he branded "ugly monsters".
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He is a long-standing critic of turbines and previously lost a legal battle to block a wind farm from being built opposite his golf club in Aberdeenshire.
Trump said: "Wind is the most expensive form of energy and it destroys the beauty of your fields, your plains and your waterways.
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"Wind needs massive subsidy, and you are paying in Scotland and in the UK, and all over the place, massive subsidies to have these ugly monsters all over the place."
Instead, the president urged the UK to exploit North Sea oil and gas.
"When we go to Aberdeen, you'll see some of the ugliest windmills you've ever seen, the height of a 50-storey building," Trump said.
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"You can take 1,000 times more energy out of a hole in the ground this big," he added, gesturing with his hands.
"It's called oil and gas, and you have it there in the North Sea."
The prime minister said the UK government believed in a mix of energy.
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"Obviously, oil and gas is going to be with us for a very long time, and that'll be part of the mix, but also wind, solar, increasingly nuclear, which is what we've been discussing," he said.
The president's visit was described as a "private" trip and - unusually for such events - combined politics with business and his love of golf.
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His mum was born on the Isle of Lewis and moved to New York in 1930 aged just 18, a family link Trump often cites as his reason for investing in Scotland.
He's been a regular visitor to his Scottish courses in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire over the past decade.
Trump is due back in the UK in September for a state visit, where he'll stay with King Charles at Windsor Castle.