Donald Trump has been invited “home” to visit the Scottish island where his mother was born, just days before he re-enters the White House.
Labour’s Torcuil Crichton, the new MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, extended the offer to the US president-elect in a Christmas card.
The mothers of both men come from the same village of Tong on the Isle of Lewis.
Mr Trump’s late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, left there in the 1930s at the age of just 18 to move to America.
Mr Crichton said: “Oceans may separate our political views, but the president and I are both sons of Lewis with mothers from the same village and I thought it might be an appropriate Christmas gesture to invite him home.”
He added that Mr Trump’s mother “who returned regularly, is fondly remembered. The president of the United States would be sure to get a warm island welcome if he chose to come.”
Mr Crichton also joked that the next president could pick up some political tips during his trip. His own mother was “the most astute politician in our family and she could give Donald Trump some invaluable advice”, he said.
The Labour politician appears to have trumped his party leader, Keir Starmer, who is expected to invite the new president to the UK for a state visit during his time in office.
Mr Trump is already due to visit Scotland next year for the opening of a new golf course in Aberdeenshire, his son has confirmed.
But other parts of the UK are also vying for a visit, with sources in Nigel Farage’s camp confident he could make a surprise trip to the Reform UK leader’s constituency of Clacton.
Relations between Labour and Mr Trump’s team are strained, after his election campaign team hit out at Sir Keir’s party and accused it of attempting to interfere in the US election, in a row over UK activists helping the Democrats.
Mr Trump has visited Lewis before, most recently in 2008, but not since his foray into politics.
The photo on the Christmas card sent to the Republican featured Mr Crichton with his mother Joan in her kitchen as she congratulated him after winning the seat for Labour in the July general election.
“Every candidate needs a winning team, and my mother played a key role in my election,” Mr Crichton said.
In the card, he also congratulated Mr Trump on his election victory.
Mr Trump’s inauguration in the middle of January will mark the start of his second term in the White House after a remarkable political comeback. Elected president in 2016, he lost to Joe Biden in 2020. But after Mr Biden was replaced as the Democrat candidate, he swept to victory against Kamala Harris in November.
