The US President praised First Minister John Swinney as a “terrific guy” after they met at dinner last night.

11:02, 29 Jul 2025Updated 16:14, 29 Jul 2025

Donald Trump paid tribute to the late Scots acting legend Sean Connery as he opened his new golf course in Aberdeenshire today.

Speaking on the first tee, the US President made a pointed reference to the high-profile planning row in the mid-2000s which delayed the opening of Trump International Golf Links. And the Republican leader also praised First Minister John Swinney as a “terrific guy” after having dinner with him last night.

Trump told invited guests and media at his Menie Estate: “We started with a beautiful piece of land, but we made it much more beautiful. The area has really welcomed us, but you’ll remember at the beginning it wasn’t quite a welcome… but it wasn’t bad. But with time they’ve liked us more and more.”

The President continued: “I just want to thank everybody, this has been an unbelievable development. The land, they said, couldn’t get zoned, it was an impossibility. And Sean Connery said ‘let the bloody bloke build his golf course’. Once he said that, everything came into line. John and I were talking about it last night.”

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Connery reportedly said in 2008: “During tough economic times, this is a major vote of confidence in Scotland’s tourist industry and our ability to rise to the challenge. I look forward to seeing a new gem in the north-east that is good for Aberdeenshire and good for Scotland.”

The Edinburgh-born actor, a huge golf fan, never played the resort before his death in 2020. David Milne, a near neighbour of the Trump golf course, later said the claim that Connery helped him land planning permission for his golf resort was “utter bollocks”.

Trump will fly back to Washington later today after spending a long weekend in Scotland. He held meetings with Keir Starmer at Turnberry yesterday before flying to Aberdeen, where he had dinner with the SNP leader. They also had a shorter meeting this morning.

The New Yorker hailed the First Minister as “a terrific guy who loves golf, and loves the people of this country”.

Swinney raised the situation in Gaza with Donald Trump, the Record understands. The leaders spoke for around 15 minutes, before posing together for pictures in front of a US flag and the saltire of Scotland ahead of the opening of a second course at the president’s golf club in Aberdeenshire.

It comes after the US Secret Service Launched an investigation after an agent tried to smuggle his wife onto a support plane accompanying Trump on his trip to Scotland.

The agent, based in Dallas, flew his wife to Maryland, and she received the official Secret Service country briefing at the hotel and rode the bus to the distinguished visitor lounge at US military base Joint Base Andrews, before she was discovered and told to leave, according to reports.

Trump departed Joint Base Andrews for Scotland on board Air Force One on Friday of last week.

The Secret Service confirmed that it is investigating the incident. A spokesman said: “The U.S. Secret Service is conducting a personnel investigation after an employee attempted to invite his spouse – a member of the United States Air Force – aboard a mission support flight.

“The aircraft, operated by the U.S. Air Force, was being used by the Secret Service to transport personnel and equipment. Prior to the overseas departure, the employee was advised by supervisors that such action was prohibited, and the spouse was subsequently prevented from taking the flight. No Secret Service protectees were aboard and there was no impact to our overseas protective operation.”

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