Trump to meet Swinney and open golf course on final day of visit

Donald Trump’s four-day long visit to Scotland will draw to a close later after a meeting with First Minister John Swinney.

The two leaders are expected to discuss whisky tariffs and the middle east in a one-to-one, before the president opens a new course at his Aberdeenshire golf resort.

In a visit dominated by trade discussions with the European Union, Trump has already played golf at his Turnberry resort, where he welcomed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Monday.

The pair then flew to RAF Lossiemouth on Air Force One, before being joined by the first minister for dinner at the Trump resort at Balmedie, near Aberdeen.

The trip has involved a major police operation in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire and enhanced policing for protest marches in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Ahead of the trip, the White House said talks between the president and prime minister would deal with elements of the trade deal between the countries.

Despite the trade deal being agreed, a 10% tariff remains on Scotch whisky, one of the country’s biggest 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.”

The first minister said he would raise the issue when he met with the president.

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.

“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 used the media conference at Turnberry to hit out at wind turbines, which he branded “ugly monsters”.

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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

His mother was born in Lewis in and emigrated to New York in 1930, aged 18. Trump has often credited that link with his decision to invest in his Scottish resorts.

He has been a regular visitor to his courses in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire over the past decade.

The president will return to the UK in September for a state visit, when he will stay with the King at Windsor Castle.