PA Media Donald Trump looking slightly off camera. He is only visible from the shoulders up. He has a red cap on his head with the words: 'Make America Great Again' in white writing on the front. He is wearing a white polo shirt under a dark blue zip-up jumper.PA Media

Donald Trump will arrive in Scotland for a four-day visit on Friday

UK government Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has said he will give Donald Trump a “warm welcome” when he arrives in Scotland on Friday.

Murray told the BBC he “expected” to meet with the US president at some point during his four-day trip to the country.

Trump is due to visit his golf resorts at Turnberry, in South Ayrshire, and Menie, in Aberdeenshire, and will meet prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and first minister John Swinney.

This is a “private” trip and the president will return to the UK in September for an official state visit, which will include a meeting with King Charles.

PA Media Ian Murray looking slightly off camera. He is only visible from the shoulders up. He is standing against a black background. He has short, dark hair and a grey and dark beard. His mouth is slightly open. He is wearing a dark suit over a white shirt with a dark red tie.PA Media

Ian Murray said he expected to meet with US president to Donald Trump on his visit to Scotland

The Scottish Secretary is the cabinet minister who represent Scottish interests within the UK government.

He said it was in the “national interest” to ensure Trump received a warm welcome in Scotland, where the president has family ties.

“It’s expected but not fully confirmed yet,” Murray said when asked if he would meet Trump.

“The details are still being worked out.”

He added: “Of course it’s a warm welcome.

“We would always have a warm welcome for the president of the United States – and the office of the United States and the office of the prime minister work very closely together.

“My predecessor, David Mundell, met with the president when he last landed in Scotland so it’s a duty for us to make sure we are welcoming foreign dignitaries to Scotland in the right way, particularly one that is our closest and nearest ally both economically and in defence and security.”

‘Global interest’

In April 2019, Murray voted in favour of a motion raised in the House of Commons which called on then-prime minister Theresa May to rescind the offer of an official state visit to Trump during his first term.

The motion, tabled by Labour’s Stephen Doughty, said the House “deplored” Trump’s “misogynism, racism and xenophobia” among other criticisms of his time in office.

When asked if his view had changed since then, Murray said there was “global interest” in preserving the relationship between the UK and US.

He told the programme: “The long historic ties, cultural ties, economic ties between the US and the UK, we are the closest allies in the world and we have to make sure we are working together for the benefit of our national interest and the benefit of the global interest as well.

“Given the US is our closest ally, given we have just done a trade agreement with them to remove tariffs for the benefit of UK and Scottish businesses and given global events at the moment, it is really, really important for these historic ties to work with our global allies.”

The Scottish Conservatives shadow Scottish secretary, Andrew Bowie, said Murray had performed a “complete U-turn” on his view of Trump.

He said: “I’m glad that Ian Murray has belatedly recognised how vital it is for Scotland to welcome, and work constructively with, the US president – but he’d have more credibility if he put his hands up and owned his past juvenile opportunism.

“No wonder the public are turned off by politics and politicians when they hear the Scottish secretary trying to take them for fools.”