Edinburgh: Donald Trump flies into Scotland later to visit two golf resorts he owns in where his mother was born. He will travel to Turnberry in South Ayrshire, a world-class venue he bought in 2014, and to Menie in Aberdeen­shi­re to open a new 18-hole course. The White House says Trump will meet PM Sir Keir Starmer to discuss trade while in the UK, BBC reported.

The trip is exceptional as US presidents rarely promote their personal interests so publicly while in office. It is not the first time Trump has been accused of conflating his own affairs with the nation’s. Even so, with Gaza and Uk­raine in flames, the dollar on the slide and questions mou­nting about his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s decision to focus on golf has raised eyebrows. 

His Gaelic-speaking moth­er Mary Anne MacLeod was born in 1912 on the island of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides and left during the Great Depression for New York where she married pro­perty developer Fred Trump. Their son’s return to Scotland for 4 days this summer comes ahead of a state visit in September when the president and First Lady Melania Trump will be hosted by King Charles at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.

Trump is not scheduled to see the King on this visit but it is not entirely private either as he will meet Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney as well as the prime minister. Business leaders, including Scotch whisky producers, are urging Starmer and Swinney to use their meetings with Trump to lobby for a reduction in US taxes on imports, known as tariffs.