Ursula von der Leyen to meet Donald Trump in Scotland on Sunday to discuss trade

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she will meet US President Donald Trump on Sunday in Scotland.

In a post on X where she announced the meeting, von der Leyen added that they will "discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." Trump also confirmed the meeting will take place after arriving in Scotland.

The European Commission earlier in the week briefed member states on the progres of trade negotiations with the EU and the possibility of resorting to anti-coercion measures in the tariff dispute between the EU and the US.

The member states on Thursday approved the list of retaliatory tariffs proposed by the European Commission to counter US trade measures, with only Hungary voting against.

The list includes an initial package of measures adopted in early April, with up to 30% tariffs targeting products including yachts, aircraft, cars and car parts, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminium.

This was the latest development in a negotiation process that has lasted several months. The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars, and 10% on all other imports. On 12 July, Trump ramped up pressure on the EU by threatening to impose 30% tariffs as of 1 August if no agreement was reached.

The White House said Trump will also be meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit.

Trump golf tour blurs politics and family business

The US President arrives in Scotland on a five-day visit during which he is set to visit a golf course in Aberdeenshire ahead of its opening on 13 August, and another near Turnberry. His family owns both golf courses.

The fact that Trump is using a presidential overseas trip - complete with his large entourage of advisers, White House staff, secret service agents and reporters - to promote Trump-brand golf courses shows how the president has become increasingly comfortable mixing his pursuits on government with his family's business interests.

Trump's assets are in a trust run by his children, who are also handling day-to-day operations of the Trump Organisation while he is president.

The company has reached a number of lucrative foreign agreements involving golf courses, including plans to build luxury developments in Qatar and Vietnam, even as the administration negotiates tariff rates for those countries and around the globe.

A White House spokesperson has called the president's visit to Scotland a “working trip." She also said that Trump “has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport.”