AN SNP source has hit back at claims Donald Trump spends his phone calls to Theresa May “bitching” about Nicola Sturgeon.
A former Downing Street official had told the Huffington Post the US president “totally hates” the First Minister.
The “president continually takes up valuable phone time attacking the Scottish First Minister," they said.
They added that it is because she “has made clear her loathing of his politics”, and also because “her predecessor fell out with Trump over his golf course developments".
But an SNP source told The National it was amusing that he spends so much time discussing her – because she doesn't think about him at all.
“Maybe the president doesn’t like people who are willing to tell him a few home truths rather than just hold his hand – that might also explain his treatment of Angela Merkel, who has tended to stand up to him," the source said.
“In some ways it’s quite amusing to think of the president using time with the Prime Minister to rant about the First Minister, especially as she spends hardly any time talking about him – she is too busy getting on with her job of making Scotland a better place to live for everyone who calls our country home.”
In 2015 Sturgeon stripped Trump of his membership of the GlobalScot group of international advocates for Scottish business after his call during the US election campaign for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the US.
Last month she insisted that the separation of immigrant parents from their children meant it would be inappropriate to offer him “the red carpet treatment” in the UK.
The former staffer told the Huffington Post, that Trump, “totally hates Nicola Sturgeon. He spends lots of his time bitching about Sturgeon. He loathes Salmond too. But why spend so much time talking about Sturgeon in a phone call with Theresa May?”
A Scottish Government spokesman said of the visit: “President Trump is coming to the UK at the invitation of the UK Government and the Secretary of State for Scotland will greet him on arrival. “We understand the president’s time in Scotland is planned as a personal private visit between other engagements, with no official meetings.
“Scotland has deep and longstanding ties of family, friendship and business with the United States, which will continue to endure.
“At the same time, we will not compromise our fundamental values of equality, diversity, and human rights and we expect these values to be made clear during the presidential visit to the UK. We would encourage those attending any protests to do so peacefully and safely.”
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