First Minister John Swinney has met US President Donald Trump’s son Eric at Bute House in Edinburgh
Eric Trump is a senior executive in his father’s business – the Trump Organisation – which owns golf resorts in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire.
The meeting took place over tea and biscuits and is understood to have lasted about 50 minutes.
It comes after the first minister said he did not think it would be appropriate for Donald Trump to be offered a second state visit to the UK.
It is understood Eric Trump flew into Edinburgh Airport earlier on Thursday.
A second golf course is due to open at Trump Aberdeenshire this summer.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer used a US visit earlier this month to present Donald Trump with a letter from the King, offering an initial meeting in Scotland – where Trump owns two golf courses – to discuss the logistics of a second state visit.
Second-term US presidents are traditionally not offered state visits and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, usually at Windsor Castle.
The King invited President Trump to meet him at either Balmoral or Dumfries House – which are both near the Trump resorts.
The following day the US President had a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which spiralled into a fiery showdown.
Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” and, alongside Vice-President JD Vance, demanded that he show more gratitude for years of US support.
The Ukrainian president pushed back at suggestions from his more powerful partners that he should work harder to agree a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin. They responded that he was being “disrespectful”.
A number of SNP MPs have criticised the prime minister’s relationship with Trump on social media, including the party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn who said Starmer “better get back up off his knees and revoke that offer of a state visit”.
Taking a different tone from colleagues, Swinney said he welcomed the role the prime minister was taking and that he supported him trying to find a way through a difficult situation.
But he added that he could not see how a state visit could go ahead if Trump was “not a steadfast ally of ours in protecting the future of Ukraine”.
