John Swinney responds to Trump claims that Scotland is bad for business

Donald Trump’s mother, Mary MacLeod, was born in the Hebrides before emigrating to the US and marrying Fred Trump.

Mr Trump also described the First Minister as “nasty” for endorsing Kamala Harris ahead of the election which his father won earlier this month.

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The SNP leader was asked about the comments on a visit to Wardie Primary in Edinburgh to mark World Book Week, and said the comments were simply not true.

Mr Swinney told Bauer Media: “Scotland is a country that’s very successful in terms of attracting investment, we’re the most successful part of the United Kingdom in attracting foreign direct investment other than London and the south-east and we have been for the best part of 10 years – so the evidence speaks for itself.

“One of my priorities as First Minister, one of the priorities I’ve asked the deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, to take forward is to make sure that we put in place all the steps, measures and mechanisms to make sure we are investment-ready – and we are.

“The evidence speaks for itself”@JohnSwinney is rejecting claims from Eric Trump that the Scottish Government’s made it “virtually impossible” to do business in Scotland pic.twitter.com/rWgtG0c8TA

— Alan Smith (@Political_AlanS) November 20, 2024

“Scotland is a country that’s open for business and a priority of my period as First Minister will be to make sure that we are an investment-ready country, we’ve already seen very significant investments in Scotland.

“Just on Monday I was visiting the Sumotomo investment, a £300m investment in a new cable factory for offshore wind investments in the North of Scotland.

“So Scotland is a country that’s open and ready for investment and I welcome investment in Scotland.”

Donald Trump is expected to visit Scotland next year to open a new golf course in Aberdeenshire, with Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie saying he should be met with protests.

He said: “I am certain that Donald Trump’s visit will be met with protests and anger. Scotland must be loud and clear that we do not agree with his toxic values or his harmful business ventures.

“He is a dangerous, fraudulent, misogynistic, climate-change denier who claims to love our country while destroying our natural landscapes with garish golf courses and resorts for the wealthy.

“We must keep in mind that this is a man whose vitriol and misinformation incited violence in his own country, and continues to breed hatred and division. He represents everything that we as a nation do not wish to be.

“His investments here in Scotland have already been cited as part of a recent criminal case in New York, which is why we have consistently called for the Scottish Government to issue an Unexplained Wealth Order to investigate his dealings.”