At a glance
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Donald Trump welcomed Keir Starmer to Turnberry on Monday before landing at Balmedie - The pair touched down in Air Force One at Lossiemouth before heading to the Menie estate
- First Minister John Swinney is to attend a dinner with the US President
- Trump referred to the suggestion that a Scottish independence referendum could only take place once in a generation
- A ‘festival of resistance’ is set to be held near the Aberdeenshire golf course while Trump is there
- Trump’s visit has already been marked by arrests, including a disturbance on plane to Glasgow which has sparked a terror probe
- The President said he wasn’t ‘a big whisky drinker’ but maybe he should be
- On the humanitarian crisis, Trump said the children in Gaza ‘look very hungry’
Donald Trump has arrived at his second golf course in Aberdeenshire, after meeting with Sir Keir Starmer.
His motorcade left the South Ayrshire resort on Monday evening after the US President and the Prime Minister took questions from journalists.
Starmer arrived at Turnberry on Monday afternoon, before the pair touched down in Air Force One at Lossiemouth, with a piper playing the pair in upon arrival.
They went on to land at Trump’s International Golf Links on the Menie Estate in Balmedie via helicopter.
First Minister John Swinney is to attend a dinner with Trump to mark the official opening of the second course.
Swinney said the dinner provides an opportunity to “advance the interests of Scotland” amid discussions over tariff exemptions for the whisky and salmon sector.
Trump greeted Starmer and his wife as he arrived at around 12.40pm.
Standing on the Turnberry steps, the US President said he “loved this country”.
“My mother was born in Scotland, it’s an incredible place – a beautiful place,” he said.
“Our relationship with the UK is unparalleled.”
On tariffs on the Scottish whisky industry, the US President said: “I didn’t know whisky was a problem.
“I’m not a big whisky drinker but maybe I should be.”
Speaking about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Trump said the children “look very hungry”.
He added: “We are giving a lot of money and a lot of food to Gaza.”
Starmer said: “It’s a humanitarian crisis, and people in Britain are revolted by the scenes in Gaza. Britain is working with Jordan on getting direct aid drops in.”
The President was also asked about his advice for dealing with the small boats’ crisis in the UK.
“If you are stopping the wrong people, my hats are off to you,” Trump said.
The President said if the “boats are loaded up with bad people, and they usually are because other countries don’t send their best,” then he said the UK is doing a “fantastic” thing.
Starmer added that his Labour Government has returned “35,000 [immigrants] who have no right to be here”.
Trump also suggested he would reduce the 50-day deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
The President said he was “very disappointed” with Vladimir Putin.
“We thought we had that settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” Trump said.
“We’re going to have to look and I’m going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number, because I think I already know the answer, what’s going to happen.”
The Prime Minister travelled to Scotland to meet the US President on day three of his Scotland visit on Monday morning.
It is understood that he will discuss Washington’s work with partners in Qatar and Egypt during his talks with Trump and seek to determine what more can be done to urgently bring about a ceasefire.
They will also discuss the recently agreed US-UK trade deal and the war in Ukraine.
After their meeting, the world leaders travelled together for a further private engagement in Aberdeenshire.
The US President will then travel to his second resort, Trump International Golf Links on the Menie Estate.
The meeting comes after Trump briefly met European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire on Sunday.
They agreed to a trade deal setting a 15% tariff on most European Union goods. Trump said it was the “biggest deal ever made”.
Trump landed at Prestwick Airport on Friday evening for a five-day visit to Scotland and was seen playing golf at his resort over the weekend – on what has been described as a working holiday.
Sir Keir will travel to Scotland to meet the president at Turnberry before a planned press conference.
It is understood that he will discuss Washington’s work with partners in Qatar and Egypt during his talks with Trump and seek to determine what more can be done to urgently bring about a ceasefire.
They will also discuss the recently agreed US-UK trade deal and the war in Ukraine.
After their meeting, the world leaders will travel on together for a further private engagement in Aberdeen.
The US President is then set to travel to his second resort Trump International Golf Links on the Menie Estate.
Former Aberdeenshire councillor Debra Storr was arrested on Friday near the Trump International Golf Links in Menie in connection with abusive behaviour. The 65-year-old has been released on an undertaking to appear at court at a later date.
A “festival of resistance” is set to be held near the Aberdeenshire golf course on Monday afternoon.
Organisers of the protest at The White Horse Inn, in Balmedie, said they object to the golf course receiving £180,000 of public funding for the Nexo Championship next month.
Alena Ivanova of Stop Trump Scotland said: “This message is to Donald Trump but also our elected leaders preparing to meet him: there is no place for Trumpism in Scotland.
“They need to stand up to him instead of kowtowing to this bully – including by handing over hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money for a golf tournament hosted at Trump International even while he attempts to bully us with tariffs.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen on Saturday to voice their opposition to Trump’s visit.
A man was arrested after a disturbance on board a flight bound for Glasgow on Sunday. A video being investigated by counter-terrorism police appears to show a man on an aircraft shouting “death to America, death to Trump”.
A 50-year-old woman was issued with a recorded police warning in connection with alleged threatening behaviour at a Stop Trump Scotland protest outside the US consulate in Edinburgh on Saturday.
A 20-year-old man was also arrested at Prestwick Airport on Friday for abusive behaviour.
Trump will visit the UK again in September for an unprecedented second state visit.
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