"What this latest trip did emphasise, however, is that the First Minister must beware of letting his desire to acquire photographs for his mantelpiece get the better of him. His visit to Trump Towers in New York where he met Donald Trump — “half man, half brand” as one observer memorably put it — became the abiding image of Mr McConnell’s trip and succeeded only in deflecting attention from the real meat: the First Minister’s attempts to win investment for and interest in the old country from the Scottish diaspora in North America.
When Mr Trump trumpeted his wish to “maybe do something in Scotland sometime”, it wasn’t a pinch of salt you needed it was the whole salt mine. He might have said the same, with the name of the country changed, if he been meeting the President of Upper Volta or the Prime Minister of Rockall. They at least, we hope, would not have looked as grateful for small recognition as Mr McConnell succeeded in doing.
And the over-the-top Mr Trump compounded the cliché-ridden summit with the Scottish apprentice by going on interminably about his “Scotch mother”. Mr McConnell, meanwhile, didn’t get a word in and could only look on, perhaps secretly hoping that Mr Trump might soon shut up and he could get the hell out of there. That meeting was about Trump, not about Scotland and no amount of spin about winning influence and exposing Scotland to an American television audience alters that.
One MSP allegedly did an internet search to find how the Trump/McConnell meeting had been reported in America and came up with absolute zero coverage. One can only hope that the First Minister on the flight back home was busy drafting a memo to his advisers to avoid such excruciating photo-calls in future. "
This is a bit harsh. Perhaps the meeting seemed like a good idea when the trip was being arranged. Perhaps the First Minister was flattered by the Trump celebrity status. OK, so it did not turn out too well. But I don't recall any criticisms in advance from the media.
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