Trump victory in US election would be a ‘disaster’ warns Scottish minister

His comments come after Trump International, which runs his golf courses in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, said John Swinney’s support for Kamala Harris was an insult to the 45th President’s financial investment in Scotland.

Mr McKee said: “Donald Trump is a disaster, to be honest.

“When you look at it from the outside, I think that the Democrats perhaps haven’t run the best campaign.

“They should be much further ahead than they are, and on an international issue that’s hugely important, frankly, I’ve been very disappointed with both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the tragic situation in the Middle East and Israel and Palestine.

“So I think neither of them is the perfect candidate, Donald Trump, very far from it. And Kamala Harris has got a lot of work to do, I think, on the international stage, to deliver what we would, we would hope to see from the leader of the free world.”

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Earlier in the programme, Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar said he also wanted the Democrats to keep the White House.

“Look, I want the world to win,” he said. “And the reality is the world when the world win if it does not have someone who is a divisive figure, who deliberately wants to put country against country, and who wants to build protectionism in the US and build a narrative that picks on women and minority communities and others.

“So ultimately, of course, it’s a decision for the American people to decide who they want their president to be, but I think there’s a reason why so many people in America, right across the globe, want to see the Democrats win or want to see Kamala Harris as president.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves was far more circumspect. She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “We are an open, trading economy. The US is our single biggest trading partner, more than £300 billion of trade between our countries.

“That’s beneficial for the UK but it’s also beneficial for the United States, and so we will work with whoever becomes president and make the case for that free and open trade that we believe in.”

She added: “We look at all eventualities of what might happen in the election this week, but we will make the case for free trade, for open trade.”

Mr Trump has already proposed a 10% tariff on all goods from around the world.

On Thursday, speaking to journalists in the Scottish Parliament, John Swinney said: “People in the United States of America should vote for Kamala Harris.

“And I’ve not come to that conclusion only because Donald Trump is opposed to Scottish independence.”

Sarah Malone, of Trump International Scotland, hit out at the First Minister: “The Trump family has shown unwavering commitment to Scotland – pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Scottish economy – and driving many tens of thousands of international visitors to Scotland every year.

“It is appalling to see the First Minister, who talks of the need to encourage economic growth, insult this commitment and all the people involved in delivering world-class services here in Scotland.”

She said businesses owned by the Trump family employ around 600 people in Scotland.

In October, Mr Trump shared his view on Scottish independence on a podcast, saying he hopes the United Kingdom “always stays together”.

He told the Flagrant: “You know, they tried to break up Scotland from the rest of the empire, so to speak.

“And it made it by about like a half a point. They kept it together.”

He also spoke about his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod who was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis.

He added: “The Scottish people, they’re tough people.

“They’re good people. Actually, they’re very great people. But they’re good fighters.”