Five days in Scotland, a land tied to the memory of his mother, to relax and attend to personal affairs, leaving behind with a shrug the storms of the US and the world, aside from a few important informal diplomatic meetings. Donald Trump's "private" and highly protected visit to the northernmost British nation in the United Kingdom has already begun, inaugurating with a grand landing from Air Force One. Greeted with full honors at Prestwick Airport, near Glasgow, Trump immediately launched his first barb.
"Stop building wind turbines, you're ruining the beauty of your countries," the President warned. Referring to tariffs and the meeting scheduled for the coming days with Ursula von der Leyen, he specified: "The agreement with the EU will be the biggest of all."
The visit to Scotland will also include a meeting with Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, ready to rush from London to join his great ally. And even with the First Minister of Scottish Local Government, John Swinney, a member of a party—the pro-independence, progressive SNP—that has previously been fiercely hostile, and who this time will be called upon to act as his chaperone upon arrival. Then comes the crucial face-to-face meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, who leaves Brussels on Sunday.
The diary appointments remain subject to on-the-fly adjustments and the 79-year-old president-tycoon's creative flair. He plans to shuttle between the two luxury Scottish resorts acquired by his family: Tunrnberry, in Ayrshire, and Menie, in Aberdeenshire, where he will bless the inauguration (scheduled for August 13) of an impressive new golf course. As this is an informal setting, there will be no contact with King Charles III, unlike what will happen in September during his second formal state visit to London, an honor never granted to other foreign leaders in the modern history of the Kingdom.
(Unioneonline)
