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

Donald Trump’s four-day 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 BBC has been told Swinney spent more than an hour in conversation with Trump on Monday night.

The pair were seated next to each other for the meal – which included a starter of langoustine and a main course of beef – and “discussed at length critical issues such as whisky,” according to a senior Scottish government source.

Swinney is seeking an exemption for Scotch from a 10 per cent tax, known as a tariff, imposed on UK exports to the US.

The spirit makes up a quarter of all UK food and drink exports according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

The trade body says around a fifth of all Scotch whisky is exported to the US – a market worth £971m in 2024 – and the tariffs are currently costing the industry £4m a week.

The Scottish government source said there was a “window of opportunity” between now and Trump returning to the UK for a state visit in September to make progress on reducing the tariff.

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 the president.

On Monday, Swinney 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.

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

Trump’s mother was born in Lewis 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.