In an “unprecedented” move, US president Donald Trump has been invited to discuss a second state visit with King Charles in Scotland.
The invitation was hand-delivered by Keir Starmer at a meeting with Trump last Thursday, and is in itself rare, as few US presidents have travelled to Scotland during their Presidency.
Dwight D Eisenhower was the first to visit Scotland as US President, spending time at Balmoral Castle with the Royal Family in 1959.
A friend of the late Queen Elizabeth II, he was the only one of the 13 US presidents she met as monarch to stay with her at the Scottish estate.
Eisenhower’s visit marked a close relationship with the Queen, as Balmoral was thought to be one of her favourite royal residences, which she typically strived to keep detached from state affairs.
President George W Bush was the next to make the trip to Scotland in 2005, attending the G8 summit at Gleneagles. In 2021 Joe Biden travelled to Glasgow for the COP26 summit.
Biden and Bush’s visits may have been solely political, but Eisenhower and Trump have a more personal connection to Scotland.
Trump is known to have a fondness for Scotland as the birthplace of his mother, Mary Anne McLeod, who was raised on the Isle of Lewis before she emigrated to New York in 1930.
He currently owns two golf courses in Aberdeen and Turnberry, with plans to open another this summer.
Despite Trump’s description of Scotland as a “fantastic” country during the meeting with Starmer, his visits here have not always been met with a warm welcome.
Controversy around the environmental and social impact of his golf courses has often prompted backlash among locals.
Both of Trump’s courses are near the King’s proposed meeting places of Balmoral or Dumfries House.
It remains to be seen what will come of the President’s discussion with the King, but a Scottish meeting place seems to signify common ground for both parties.
“Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets US President Donald Trump” by UK Prime Minister is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.