There had been much talk of the possibility of a frosty reception when the US president locked eyes with Scotland’s first minister.Donald Trump and John Swinney are not natural friends. They couldn’t be further apart politically speaking and personality-wise.
However, it seems Mr Trump is enjoying his foreign holiday enough for the pair to park their differences and bond over their mutual love for Scotland.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.
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US President Donald Trump in Scotland on Monday. Pic: AP
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.
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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.
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👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈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:Starmer ran the gauntlet with TrumpTrump reignites row with ‘nasty’ Sadiq Khan
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