STOOD atop a hill overlooking the Trump International Golf Links near Balmedie in Aberdeenshire in August, Eric Trump confidently proclaimed that his father would be the “greatest president” for Scotland.
“My father would be the greatest president as it pertains to the relationship with Scotland that Scotland has ever had in the US,” Donald Trump’s middle child told a sceptical looking Colin Mackay from STV News.
But would he?
The former president – and perhaps the next one when Americans go to the polls on Tuesday – has strong Scottish roots.
Trump's mother Mary Anne MacLeod (below) was born in the small village of Tong in the Isle of Lewis before making the move stateside.
That makes Donald perhaps the most Scottish – if we’re talking pure ancestry – of any US president ever.
But that link has never led to any tangible benefit for Scotland politically.
In fact, it couldn’t be any different to the relationship between President Joe Biden and his ancestral homeland of Ireland – where he was welcomed with enormous fanfare in 2023.
The relationship between Trump and the land of his mother has, if anything, been downright hostile at times.
Ever since the businessman bought a stretch of north-east coastline for his Aberdeenshire golf course and hotel, he’s found himself in disputes with successive SNP first ministers.
The late Alex Salmond – who first granted permission for the purchase and development of the land – had a very public spat with Trump after his firm launched a legal challenge to a planned offshore wind farm in full view of the Aberdeen golf course.
The challenge was ultimately rejected by the UK's Supreme Court – with Trump then calling Salmond a “three-time loser”.
Nicola Sturgeon very publicly revoked Trump’s GlobalScot status – an international business network – in 2015 after he called for Muslims to be banned from the United States during his successful first campaign for US president.
If Trump is to become US president again this week – with polls currently putting him neck-and-neck with vice-president Kamala Harris – the relationship has hardly started swimmingly.
Trump’s team hit back this week after First Minister John Swinney endorsed Harris in the election.
Speaking to journalists after First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, the SNP leader said: “People in the United States of America should vote for Kamala Harris and I have not come to that conclusion only because Donald Trump is opposed to Scottish independence.”
It came after the American tycoon told a podcast earlier this month that he hopes the UK “always stays together”.
In response, the former president’s team said Swinney’s comments were “appalling” and an “insult to the massive investment in Scotland made by the Trump family”.
The National understands that during Trump’s presidency between 2016 and 2020, there was little contact between his administration and the Scottish Government. And that, if anything, the feeling among Scottish ministers was simply: the less contact the better. That's not too difficult either, given foreign affairs is currently reserved to the UK Government.
Fears for the Scotch whisky industry
BUT Trump’s first presidency certainly had an impact in Scotland – notably with the whisky industry – and certainly could again.
The then Republican president slapped all single malt Scotch whisky with a 25% tariff in 2019 – alongside other UK industries including cashmere and construction vehicles.
According to Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) analysis, the industry lost £600 million over the 18 months the charge was in place – roughly £1m a day.
President Joe Biden suspended the tariff in 2021, but only for five years. And Trump, on the campaign trail, has again raised the prospect of new levies on just about every US import if he wins.
SWA has already sounded the alarm, with chief executive Mark Kent telling the Sunday National that the impact of the levy fell disproportionately on small and medium-sized distillers across Scotland.
“But the whole industry lost sales and market share in what has been for decades the industry’s largest and most valuable market,” he added.
“The industry was collateral damage in a trade dispute about aerospace subsides. While currently suspended, these tariffs must never be allowed to return and cause further damage to Scotland’s distillers.
"No matter the result of next week’s US elections, resolution of the underlying dispute and removing Scotch whisky from harm must be the top transatlantic trade priority of the US and UK administrations.”
Trump has also signalled that he plans to retain his stake in his business empire even if he is elected next week.
This includes his Menie Estate golf course in Balmedie, near Aberdeen and the Trump Turnberry Hotel and Resort near Girvan.
Could we see another visit from Trump to Scotland – even as president?
THE Trump Organisation is set to open a second golf course next year, the 18-hole links MacLeod Course - named after Trump's Lewis-born mother, Mary.
The resort claimed the course would feature the “largest sand dunes in Scotland” and form “the greatest 36 holes in golf” alongside the original course, completed in 2012.
Trump visited Scotland in July 2018 while in office. He spent two days at his Turnberry resort with wife Melania as part of a four-day trip to the UK, during which he met then-prime minister Theresa May and the Queen.
He then faced widespread protests and was heckled as he played golf at Turnberry with his son Eric.
It wasn’t the first time either – Trump has butted heads with Scottish locals ever since he first started developing his land in Aberdeenshire. And if Trump were to come visit again, it would be unlikely to be without protest.
One thing seems very certain: Trump will likely continue to promote his Scottish golf courses on the world stage.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and other organisations have repeatedly accused Trump of abusing his power and conflicts of interest while in office for doing so.
In one instance, Trump reportedly pushed his ambassador to the UK to urge officials to hold the British Open golf tournament at Turnberry. Meanwhile, he repeatedly mentioned the courses in meetings with world leaders.
Donald Trump made more than $58m from his businesses in Scotland while serving as president, according to a CREW analysis of his tax returns.
Regardless, Trump’s impact on the world would ultimately impact Scotland.
On that point, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (above) – a noted critic of Trump – has sounded the alarm.
“At one level, I'll go back to the things that I was saying when Trump first became president, which is – if we have an important relationship with the United States – the fact that an extremist, a dangerous person is occupying the White House doesn't change the fact that we want to have a good and workable relationship with the US,” Harvie said.
“But we need to reorient that relationship toward those who actually represent values that we can connect with. And there is still a substantial body of opinion, including at state and city level, for example, within the US of people who do want climate action and who do believe in human rights, equality and democracy.
He added: “We can find a great deal of common ground with people with those values. That's where we need to put our focus and attention.”
Harvie said that what is different about a potential second Trump term, however, is that the threat to democracy is “much more explicit now” after the events of January 6.
“Basic democratic norms are in a more dangerous position now than perhaps at any time in modern history, even at the height of the Cold War,” he said.
“European governments, including in Scotland and the UK and across the EU, have to be very clear eyed about the danger.”
The Scottish Government, meanwhile, said: “The US election is a matter for the people of the United States of America.”
The spokesperson added: “Scotland and the USA share cultural, historical and economic links, and the Scottish Government seeks to have a productive relationship with US administrations in order to make the most of these links for the benefit of our diaspora and for the people of Scotland.”
