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What we know about Trump's visit to Scotland

What we know about Trump's visit to Scotland

Yahooa day ago
From trade deals to Gaza, here is what Keir Starmer is expected to discuss with Donald Trump at the US president's Ayrshire golf course.
Sir Keir Starmer has met with Donald Trump in Scotland today to discuss a range of issues including the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and tariffs.
The US president is hosting the prime minister at his Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire as his four-day visit to Scotland draws to a close.
Starmer is expected to spend most of the day with Trump where he will, among other things, attempt to press the president for a trade deal on UK-made steel.
It comes after Trump announced he had agreed 'the biggest deal ever made' between the US and the European Union after high-stakes talks with Ursula von der Leyen at Turnberry on Sunday.
While the prime minister will be seeking to strengthen the UK's economic ties with the US on the golf course, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Breakfast there is "more to do" in negotiations and that a "resolution" is unlikely to be reached today.
Here, Yahoo News takes a look at Trump's visit to Scotland and what is likely to be on the agenda today.
Why is Trump here?
Trump has been visiting his mother's ancestral homeland of Scotland since Friday for a mixture of business and pleasure.
The president has been pictured playing golf at his Turnberry course in South Ayrshire and was also expected to visit his other course on the Menie Estate, north of Aberdeen, during his visit.
He is expected to fly back to Washington on Tuesday, following his meetings on Monday with Starmer and Scotland's first minister John Swinney.
Swinney has vowed to press Trump to exempt Scotch whisky from US trade tariffs, which he says are currently costing the local industry £4m a week.
Swinney also promised to raise the situation in Gaza with Trump, as it was 'causing deep unease and concern and heartbreak within Scotland'.
Is this a state visit?
This four-day trip is not a state visit, although Trump is scheduled to make a state visit to the UK between 17 and 19 September.
It will be a historic first, as Trump is the first elected leader in modern history to be invited back for a second state visit to the UK – the first being in 2019 during his first term as president.
The full details of the visit have not yet been released, but it will include a full ceremonial welcome and a state banquet at St George's Hall in Windsor Castle.
There had been speculation the King would host Trump in Scotland at Balmoral or Dumfries House, after Charles wrote a letter to him in February inviting him to a state visit.
However, it is understood that with the state visit scheduled just a few months later, both sides had agreed to wait until the formal gathering.
Anti-Trump campaigners have said they plan to stage a mass demonstration in central London on the first day of his trip.
What are Trump and Starmer likely to discuss?
Trump and Starmer are set to hold "wide-ranging" talks at the Turnberry golf course, No 10 Downing Street said, including advancing the implementation of the UK-US "economic prosperity deal".
The deal was agreed upon in general terms between Starmer and Trump in May, although further details are yet to be hammered out.
Progress was made in June when both leaders signed off on terms reducing tariffs on car and aerospace imports to the US.
But agreement on a similar arrangement for Britain's steel imports was not reached, leaving tariffs on steel at 25%.
American concerns over steel products made elsewhere in the world, then finished in the UK, are said to be among the sticking points on which Starmer will attempt to make progress.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Breakfast that negotiations have been "going on on a daily basis" since an agreement was reached on automotive and aerospace imports but that it "wasn't job done".
"There's a few issues to push a little bit further today," he told the broadcaster. 'We won't perhaps have anything to announce a resolution of those talks.
"But there's some sectors that we still need to resolve, particularly around steel and aluminium, and there's the wider conversation about what the US calls its reciprocal tariffs.'
Starmer is also likely to use his time with Trump to raise concerns over the starvation of the population in Gaza caused by Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory and restrictions on UN aid workers.
As the pair met, Starmer said people were 'revolted at what they are seeing on their screens' with regard to Gaza.
The prime minister has condemned Israel for restricting the flow of aid into the territory, alongside the leaders of France and Germany.
However, Washington's stance on Israel has been far less critical, having provided money to the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been criticised for bringing starving Palestinians to its sites only for them to allegedly be shot at by Israeli troops and US contractors.
Click below to see the latest Scotland headlines
No 10 said Starmer is expected to welcome Trump administration's work with mediators Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire and would discuss further what more can be done to bring the fighting and "unspeakable suffering" to a halt while securing the freedom of Israeli hostages.
Starmer has also been facing pressure from more than 220 MPs calling for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state – something French president Emmanuel Macron has promised to do – although it is unclear if the PM will bring this up with Trump today.
Securing peace in Ukraine will also be high on the agenda, with the prime minister set to talk about their shared desire to bring an end to the war, No 10 said.
They are expected to reflect on progress in their 50-day drive to arm Ukraine and force Putin to the negotiating table. After their meeting the two leaders will travel on together to a private engagement in Aberdeen.
Read more
US and EU agree trade deal - with bloc facing 15% tariffs on goods into America (Sky News)
Palestinian state recognition is a one shot opportunity for Starmer – but what does he want to achieve? (The Independent)
Scottish Secretary to give Donald Trump 'warm welcome' (The Telegraph)
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