Donald Trump says, ‘I will be there’, when speaking about visiting Scotland during his second state visit to the UK.
21:48, 21 Apr 2025Updated 21:49, 21 Apr 2025
Former US President Donald Trump on a previous visit to Turnberry (Image: Getty Images)
President Donald Trump has told of how he hopes to visit Scotland as part of his second state visit to the UK this year.
Last week, Trump said that his second state visit to the UK was likely to take place in September. Traditionally, second-term US presidents are not offered a state visit and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle.
The visit is thought to be focused on Windsor Castle in Berkshire, due to several Buckingham Palace state rooms being out of action due to reservicing, however, Scotland is also being discussed as a potential part of his visit.
Speaking to The Times today, Trump was asked if he would visit his Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, which is just over an hour’s drive from Balmoral, the royal family’s Highland estate. He replied: “I will be there — I hope to be there.”
US President Donald Trump meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: PA)
Answering, Trump suggested that the state visit could coincide with the grand opening of a second 18-hole course, named the MacLeod course after his Scottish mother, Mary MacLeod, who was born in Lewis.
He added: “We’re opening a fantastic project there and I hope I’m going to get to see it. It’s going to be great.”
During his visit to Washington in February, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump an invitation letter from King Charles in the Oval Office – with discussions continuing to find a suitable date and venue, with nothing finalised at this stage.
Downing Street, the White House and Buckingham Palace are in discussion about the state visit. The main venue for the state visit is expected to be Windsor Castle, 25 miles west of central London. The King also suggested an alternative potential trip to his Dumfries House residence in Ayrshire.
Last week, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “I was invited by the King and the country — great country. They’re going to do a second, as you know, a second fest … that’s what it is: a fest, and it’s beautiful, and it’s the first time it’s ever happened to one person.
“The reason is we have two separate terms, and it’s an honour … I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William, we have really just a great respect for the family. I think they’re setting a date for September.”
During the UK prime minister’s visit to the White House in February, Trump showed cameras the contents of the King’s letter.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hands an invitation from King Charles III for a second state visit to U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.(Image: Getty Images)
It read: “Quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom.
“As you will know this is unprecedented by a US president. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and programme content.
“In so doing, working together, I know we will further enhance the special relationship between our two countries of which we are both so proud.”
During his first term in Office, Trump was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II during his previous three-day state visit in 2019.
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