▶ Watch Video: Trump visits Scotland to tour golf courses amid protests
Washington — President Trump is in Scotland for several days on a trip that will combine presidential and personal business.
The president’s newest golf course in Scotland at Trump International Scotland is set to open Aug. 13, and Mr. Trump will visit the site ahead of the official opening. Trump International Scotland has been open in Aberdeenshire since 2012. Mr. Trump will also visit his other Scottish golf club in Turnberry, located along Scotland’s southwest coast.
While in Scotland, Mr. Trump is expected to discuss trade with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a meeting the president said will “probably” take place at one of his golf properties. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union Commission, said Friday that she and the U.S. president have agreed to meet in Scotland Sunday to discuss trade, and Mr. Trump confirmed the meeting upon his arrival in Scotland. Mr. Trump will also be meeting with John Swinney, the leader of the Scottish National Party, who has promised to bring up the human suffering in Gaza when he meets with Mr. Trump.
“It’s great to be in Scotland,” Mr. Trump told reporters upon landing. “We are going to be meeting with the prime minister I guess tomorrow, a little bit tomorrow and the next day. And we’re going to do some great things.”
The visit is Mr. Trump’s first visit to the U.K. of his second term, although he also visited during his first term.
It’s unusual for a modern-day president to promote his personal business on a taxpayer-funded trip — or while in office at all. Mr. Trump has said his children are managing his companies while he’s president. Some of the costs for this trip, like operating Air Force One at roughly $192,000 an hour and providing Secret Service security and lodging for staff, are being covered by taxpayers.
The U.K. is one of the few countries with which the U.S. has reached some agreement on trade, ahead of a rapidly approaching Aug. 1 deadline for countries to make deals with the U.S.
Mr. Trump said he and Starmer may “improve” their previously reached agreement when they meet.
The president has threatened to impose tariff rates between 15% and 50% on countries where a deal can’t be reached before August.
The U.S. had an $11.9 billion trade surplus with the U.K. in 2024, meaning the U.S. sold more goods to the U.K. than the U.K. sold to the U.S. But the U.S. had a trade deficit of roughly $235 billion with the EU last year.
Before leaving for Scotland Friday, Mr. Trump said there’s a “50/50 chance, maybe less than that” that his administration would reach a trade deal with the EU. Without a deal, Mr. Trump has threatened to hit imports from the EU’s 27 member countries with a whopping 30% tariff rate. The president has long been critical of the U.S.-EU trade relationship, claiming the U.S. has been treated unfairly.
Mr. Trump has personal ties to the Scottish countryside. His mother was born and raised in Scotland’s Isle of Lewis, before emigrating to New York when she was 18.
