Why John Swinney's £180,000 'sweetener' ahead of Donald Trump talks may not work
John Swinney’s previous criticism of Donald Trump could come back to haunt him when the two leaders meet
It’s not exactly a massive £300 million luxury jetliner – like the one presented to the US by Qatar as a replacement for Air Force One – but John Swinney’s announcement that £180,000 of taxpayers’ money will go towards a golf tournament at the Trump International course in Aberdeenshire may prove just as controversial, in Scotland at least.
However, the timing – just before the First Minister is due to meet Donald Trump – perhaps makes it look worse than it actually is. Had Swinney announced £180,000 for the Nexo Championship, previously the Scottish Championship, at a course unconnected to the current leader of the free world, few would have raised so much as an eyebrow.
Still, it is clearly an attempt to play the US President’s game of ‘you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours’ in the same way as plenty of other countries have been doing in their dealings with Trump. Not that this makes it right.
‘Hypocritical’
Unfortunately, in Scotland’s case, there are questions about whether the money will actually have the desired effect, given Swinney’s previous negative comments about Trump.
Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said Swinney has “disgracefully condemned President Trump’s state visit, and then talked up protests while claiming to welcome him to Scotland”. “Now he’s announced that his government is giving money to a golf course owned by the president during the course of his trip here. That rare support for tourism from the SNP is welcome, but many will see it as a hypocritical and cynical sweetener,” he said.
For his part, Swinney said that “golf and golf events are a key part of our national identity, supporting communities, driving economic growth, contributing to environmental sustainability across the country and promoting Scotland through global profile”. It is a remark that suggests he was trying to come up with every possible reason to justify spending the money.
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Trump’s transactional politics
It is probably fair enough, although it is hard to imagine doing something similar for any other US President in the modern era.
But Trump’s guiding ethos of transactional politics means the need for realpolitik is greater than ever before. When Swinney meets him, he will carry the hopes of Scottish businesses suffering because of Trump’s utterly unjustified tariffs.
Having handed over the ‘quid’, the First Minister now needs to come away with some ‘quo’.
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