JOHN Swinney has rejected calls to boycott a state banquet at Windsor Castle in Donald Trump’s honour.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said she will not attend the event on Wednesday evening.
The Scottish Greens called on Swinney not to attend and to think about the “message it sends” that he will be part of the proceedings.
Trump is set to be wined and dined at the white-tie event and give a speech, as will King Charles.
When The National asked the Scottish Government if the First Minister would still be attending the banquet after calls for him to boycott, a spokesperson directed us to comments he made earlier on BBC Radio Scotland.
In March, Swinney said that Trump’s state visit should be cancelled after his clash with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
At the time he said it was “simply unimaginable” that Trump should be granted a royal visit with King Charles after his showdown with the Ukrainian president.
The US president accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War Three” during the row.
Asked why he had a change of heart, Swinney told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think you've...I've just got to, I've got a job to do on Scotland's behalf to make sure that Scotland is argued for and promoted.
“I took that opportunity last week when I was able to have a meeting with President Trump and the Oval Office for a very long meeting, actually, to discuss issues in relation to Scotch whisky and the effect of tariffs.
“It's my job to engage to make sure that I take forward the interests of Scotland. And I did that over the summer when President Trump came to Scotland to visit his golf course.
“And I did it again last week, when the Scotch whisky needed to be pursued.”
Ahead of the dinner and two days of pomp and ceremony, Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said: “Donald Trump is one of the most dishonest, disgraced and dishonourable people in the world.
“He has bragged about abusing women, stirred up racist hatred and betrayed our Ukrainian allies. He is the last person on Earth who deserves a banquet in their honour.
“The photos taken at this dinner will tell the story of a British political class grovelling to a thin skinned fascist, a man inflicting state violence against migrant families in the US and arming Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
“The First Minister doesn’t support any of these policies. He has also spoken powerfully about the need for men to stand up against other men who commit the kind of acts against women that Trump has personally bragged about.
“Even at this late hour, I urge him to think about the message his attendance would send and to follow the example set by Michelle O’Neill by boycotting this shameful dinner.”
Greer said that Swinney wouldn’t dine with Vladimir Putin or Benjamin Netenyahu, adding that “there is no moral distinction between those men and Trump”.
“There is no way that we can reliably protect our access to the US economy when it is controlled by an erratic fascist whose position on tariffs is based on what he heard on Fox News that morning,” he added.
Earlier this year, Sinn Fein vice president O’Neill also stayed away from events attended by the DUP’s Little-Pengelly in the White House on St Patrick’s Day in protest at Trump’s stance on the conflict in Gaza.
Speaking in Stormont last week, O’Neill said she was “comfortable” with her decision not to attend the banquet.
DUP MLA Brian Kingston said that the US should be at “the top of our list” due to the investment the country gives Northern Ireland.
O’Neill responded: “Surely the starving children of Gaza should be at the top of your list, and everyone else’s list.
“It is the biggest humanitarian crisis of your time.”
