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Scotland’s first minister John Swinney hosted Donald Trump’s son Eric on Thursday for a “very warm and friendly” meeting in his official residence in Edinburgh, although the conversation avoided politics and focused on golf and investment.
Swinney, who a week ago argued that a second state visit to the UK for the US president should be conditional on Washington’s continued support for Ukraine, “regularly meets with business people regarding investment in Scotland”, a Scottish government spokesperson said.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, visiting Trump at the White House last month, passed on an official invitation for a second state visit from King Charles, including visiting the monarch in Scotland.
The visit of Eric Trump to Bute House comes amid growing European concern over the Trump administration’s approach to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and a widening trade war, including tariffs on steel and aluminium imports that are likely to affect the UK.
The president owns two golf resorts in his mother’s homeland, at Turnberry in Ayrshire and at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire, where a second 18-hole course is set to open over the summer. Trump is widely expected to attend the opening.
Eric Trump, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization conglomerate, said the first minister had thanked him for the company’s “ongoing colossal investment and commitment to Scotland”.
“This is the first time that I’ve heard those words from the first minister and they were hugely appreciated,” he said in a statement.
As Trump on Thursday threatened punitive measures on the EU’s alcohol exports, Swinney has been at pains to protect major Scottish exports such as whisky and salmon. Trump hit Scotch whisky with tariffs in his first term.
The discussions focused on business and investment, with Trump’s company saying it was committed to making the Scottish resorts “two of the most iconic golf destinations in the world”.
During Starmer’s visit to Washington last month, Trump’s team raised the possibility of Turnberry hosting golf’s oldest international tournament, the Open Championship — a decision controlled by the R&A, the administrative body that runs the Open.
Last weekend, activists sprayed Turnberry’s buildings with red paint and daubed “Gaza is not for sale” on one of the greens, a reference to Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from the war-torn enclave and turn it into “the riviera of the Middle East”.
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