We have to try and get on, says Swinney of Trump

Scotland’s First Minister has said he has “to try and get on” with US President Donald Trump, following a series of meetings this year.

John Swinney has met in person with the president on four occasions in recent months – twice during Mr Trump’s visit to Scotland, a third time during his own impromptu visit to Washington, and another during the president’s state visit to Britain in September.

The discussions focused largely on carving a deal for the Scotch whisky industry in trade talks with the US, but were remarkable for the First Minister’s shift in tone towards Mr Trump.

In the days before the president’s re-election, Mr Swinney endorsed his opponent Kamala Harris, telling journalists in the Scottish Parliament “I have not come to that conclusion only because Donald Trump is opposed to Scottish independence”.

In a speech to the SNP conference in 2019 when he was deputy first minister under Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Swinney accused Mr Trump – along with former prime minister Boris Johnson – of choosing “the gutter”, adding: “Their road leads to ruin.”

But speaking to the PA news agency ahead of his party’s conference in Aberdeen, the First Minister said: “We’re very different types of people. The world is made up of different types of people and we have to try and get on.

“What do we need more of in the world today? It’s probably the ability to get on with each other.”

Put to him there is a difference between sitting down with a political opponent to hash out a deal on the Government’s budget and doing the same with someone who has deployed troops on to the streets of his own country, Mr Swinney said he cannot “second-guess everything that’s going on within the United States”.

Asked if he believes Mr Trump to be a liar, Mr Swinney said: “It has been demonstrated by public comment that there are things that President Trump says that are not based on evidence.”

But he added: “I’ve got a job to do, which is about protecting, promoting the interests of Scotland.

“If the president of the United States is going to come to Scotland and take an interest in our country, I think it’s an opportunity for me to try to advance the interests of the country, which is what I’ve tried to do.”

With a Scottish election just months away, Mr Swinney also said he is concerned about the “division and lack of cohesion between communities”.

He said he has worked “very hard” to bring people together, pointing to his attendance at a synagogue in Edinburgh in the wake of the attack in Manchester last week, as well as a vigil of Jewish people outside Holyrood to commemorate those who died or were kidnapped in the October 7 attack – during which Mr Swinney was heckled.

“I think it’s important that I make myself available to engage with communities in an attempt to try to create the conditions whereby we can continue to live in a peaceful, democratic society, the one that I’ve grown up in all my days, that I cherish, he said.

“I really view that as a precious part of life.”