US president says chances of reaching a trade deal with the EU are ’50-50′ ahead of his August 1 tariff deadline.
United States President Donald Trump has arrived in Scotland, where he is set to meet with European and British leaders for trade negotiations and visit his golf courses.
Trump landed in the United Kingdom late on Friday, where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Before departing from the White House, the US president told reporters that he would discuss the trade deal between Washington and London with Starmer and “maybe even improve it”.
Von der Leyen said earlier on Friday that she had a “good” call with Trump.
“We have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong,” she said in a social media post.
Shortly after coming into office, Trump imposed tariffs on imports from across the world, and he invited countries to negotiate bilateral deals with the US to avoid or lessen any further trade barriers.
The UK agreed to a trade agreement with the US in June that expanded access to American goods in the British market.
The deal also set the tariffs on the first 100,000 UK vehicles exported to the US annually at 10 percent.
But the US trade war with the European Union has, by contrast, intensified. Earlier this month, Trump announced 30 percent tariffs on EU imports starting on August 1.
European leaders have expressed willingness to negotiate a deal while also threatening to impose their own trade measures against the US.
Trump said on Friday that the prospects of securing a trade deal with the EU are at a “50-50 chance, maybe less than that”.
“It’ll be a deal where they have to buy down their tariffs,” he said.
Beyond economic negotiations, Trump is expected to visit his golf courses in Aberdeen and Turnberry in Scotland, where he said he will host Starmer for dinner.
The US president – whose mother was Scottish – is expected to face protests as he moves around Scotland.
A group dubbed the Stop Trump Coalition has announced plans on Saturday for protests that it described as a “festival of resistance”, featuring environmental and antiwar advocates.
“Donald Trump may shake hands with our leaders, but he’s no friend of Scotland,” Alena Ivanova, a campaigner with the group, said in a statement.
“We, the people of Scotland, see the damage he has done – to democracy and working people in the US, to the global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, to the very principles of justice and humanity.”
The daily newspaper The National, which advocates for Scottish independence, described Trump’s visit in a front-page headline as: “Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland”.
Trump’s visit to Scotland comes as he faces mounting pressure at home over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In the UK, Starmer will meet Trump amid growing calls – including from within his own Labour Party – for London to recognise a Palestinian state amid the Israeli-imposed starvation crisis in Gaza.
Earlier on Friday, Trump dismissed an announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that Paris will recognise Palestine’s statehood.
“Here’s the good news: What he says doesn’t matter,” Trump told reporters. “It’s not going to change anything.”
