No more fighting talk from Sturgeon
First Minister offers olive branch to Trump as attacks on new President blasted as ‘massive own goal’
NICOLA STURGEON will this week offer an olive branch to Donald Trump by writing to him – and congratulating him on becoming US President.
The move comes just days after she insisted at First Minister’s Questions that she found many of the President-elect’s opinions “deeply abhorrent”.
Meanwhile, one of the SNP leader’s former MSPs has accused her of scoring a massive “own goal” by repeatedly snubbing Mr Trump.
Former South of Scotland SNP MSP Chic Brodie said that the New York businessman, whose mother came from Lewis, was “a son of Scotland and loves our country”.
And he argued ministers had made a mistake by failing to engage with him over his two luxury Scots golf courses.
Mr Brodie said: “As a local politician, discussion around Trump’s huge investment in Ayrshire’s Turnberry Resort was seen as a boost to the local tourism industry for now and in the future.
“It provided not just a great hotel but one of the top golf courses in the world, here in Scotland.
“The failure of Scottish Government leadership to engage at the Turnberry launch, where the next President could have been eyeballed to expand on the Scottish Government view of his pronouncements, was an own goal of some magnitude.
“I have met the President-elect several times, he is a likeable person and to see him with his family negates some of the adverse commentary from those who might have sought more evidence.”
It is unusual for SNP figures to publicly criticise the party leadership and Mr Brodie’s remarks have the potential to embarrass both the First Minister and her predecessor Alex Salmond.
Mr Brodie, who has more than 50 years’ experience in business and used to live in the US, also revealed he was asked by Ms Sturgeon’s advisers to act as peacemaker in an escalating war of words between Mr Trump and Mr Salmond.
However, the truce was shor tlived as Ms Sturgeon criticised the American after he called for Muslims to be banned from entering his country.
Now the First Minister will attempt to take the first step in thawing relations between the SNP and the President-elect after years of conflict over the latter’s outspoken views and hatred of windfarms.
Ms Sturgeon will also contact defeated candidate Hillar y Clinton to offer her commiserations after she missed out on becoming the first female US President.
Ms Sturgeon’s official spokesman said: “The First Minister will be writing to Mr Trump on his election success – and also to Hillary Clinton to acknowledge her contribution to politics and to greatly advancing the cause of gender equality.
“Scotland has deep and longstanding ties of family, friendship and business with the United States, and those links will endure in the months and years ahead.
“She is not going to turn her back on engagement with the US Government.
“The letter to Mr Trump will emphasise the close ties between the US and Scotland, the strong bonds between our countries.
“The letter to Hillary Clinton will obviously address the strong progress that her candidacy as a woman showed.”
Tw ee t i n g last week, Ms Sturgeon said: “Amidst all the criticism of her, I want to say, as a woman, simply this: thank you Hillary Clinton, your candidacy was a milestone for women.”
In 2012, when Barack Obama won a second term in office,
then-First Minister Mr Salmond sent a letter of congratulations with just three words – “Four more years” – referencing the Democrat’s re- election campaign message.
Relations between the SNP and Trump camps were more cordial when the businessman unveiled plans in 2007 to build his luxury golf resort on the rare sand dunes forming part of the Menie estate in Aberdeenshire.
The former SNP leader last week claimed he declined an offer from Mr Trump to endorse him for First Minister in 2011, and after this point relations between the pair deteriorated rapidly.
The President- elect has described Mr Salmond as “a n embarrassment to Scotland” while Mr Salmond has branded Mr Trump “offensive, absurd and dangerous”.
At Holyrood on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon said of Mr Trump: “I never want to be a politician who maintains a diplomatic silence in the face of attitudes of racism, sexism, misogyny or intolerance of any kind.”