A SCOTTISH Reform councillor has said the country should be "rolling out the red carpet" for Donald Trump who he believes to be the "most pro-UK President" there has been.
Thomas Kerr – who recently defected to Nigel Farage's party from the Conservatives – told the BBC Scotland Sunday Show that First Minister John Swinney should be inviting Trump over "as quickly as possible" as he tried to argue a strong relationship with America create "Brexit opportunities".
It comes after Trump's former close aide Anthony Scaramucci warned last month the President "doesn't give a shit" about Scotland.
In a conversation about the impacts of Brexit with Martin Geissler, Kerr said despite being a Remainer during the 2016 referendum his view on the matter had changed.
He then went on to talk about opportunities he felt there were for the UK outside of the EU in which he heaped praise on Trump.
Kerr said: "There’s a big world out there outside of the EU, that’s the problem for generations this country has fallen into is we just believe the EU exists.
"There’s a big world out there we can try and tap into, places like America. We now have the most pro-UK President in Donald Trump."
Sounding surprised at Kerr's description of the President, Geissler asked him how he knew he was the "most pro-UK President".
"You can see that in how he speaks about the country, how he speaks about the UK, how he speaks about Scotland," Kerr (below) went on.
"Donald Trump’s own parents, his own mother was from Scotland. We should be rolling out the red carpet, welcoming him in, we’ve got a Government here in Scotland instead that refuses to do that."
Kerr then said that was not enough and Trump should be invited over to Scotland.
"We should have him over. We should be trying to include that as much and as quickly as possible," he said.
"I suspect there will be loads of SNP MSPs who will be tweeting furiously to try and make sure they’ve called Donald Trump everything left right and centre. It's about trying to make sure we have a big world out there and Brexit opportunities exist."
Reform UK described Kerr's switch to the party last month as “a significant moment in Scotland’s political landscape”.
His comments about Trump diametrically oppose those of Scaramucci former White House communications director, who told the Holyrood Sources podcast Trump "would start shitting on Scotland" if Swinney and the SNP Government attract his attention.
Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born in Lewis and it has been suggested that the connection could be leveraged to Scotland’s advantage – with Scottish Secretary Ian Murray saying last week that Trump has a “deep affection” for the country.
Swinney has said he has “absolutely no alternative” but to engage with Trump’s administration, adding: “That’s exactly what I’ll do.”
Scaramucci has said that it would be best to remain off the US president’s radar.
“He wants his golf course to do well, and he loves the fact that his mother’s Scottish, but he honestly doesn’t give a shit," he said.
