By Andrea Shalal and Andrew MacAskill EDINBURGH/LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump, dogged by questions about his ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, heads to Scotland on Friday for a trip that will mix golf with politics mostly out of the public view. Trump plans to visit his golf resort in Turnberry on Scotland's east coast, where he will meet on Monday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, before heading to his sprawling golf property 200 miles away near Aberdeen on the west coast. As part of the visit, he will open a second 18-hole course on the Aberdeen property named in honor of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on a Scottish island before emigrating to America. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt this week said the trip was intended as a "working visit that will include a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Starmer to refine the historic U.S.-U.K. trade deal." The overseas travel comes as Trump faces the biggest domestic political crisis of his second term in office. Allies and opponents alike have criticized his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison. The issue has caused a rare breach with some of Trump's most loyal Make America Great Again supporters, and majorities of Americans and Trump's Republicans say they believe the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. White House officials, frustrated by the ongoing focus on the Epstein saga, are hoping the controversy dies down while Trump is abroad, one person familiar with the matter said. DEEPEN TIES The trip, initially billed as a private visit, gives Trump and Starmer a chance to deepen their already warm relationship, with key issues on the agenda to include ending Russia's war in Ukraine, UK and U.S. sources said. British officials have been heartened by what they see as a clear shift in Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine and Russia in recent weeks, a UK source said. Since being elected last year, Starmer has prioritized good relations with Trump, stressing the importance of Britain's defense and security alliance with the U.S. and being careful to avoid openly criticizing Trump's tariff policies. That approach helped Britain seal the first tariff-reduction deal with the U.S. in May, which reaffirmed quotas and tariff rates on British automobiles and eliminated tariffs on the U.K. aerospace sector, but left steel tariffs in place. Tariffs will likely come up, but sources close to the matter said it was unclear if any breakthrough could be achieved. Trump also is expected to meet with Scottish leader John Swinney, who publicly backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, but no details have been released by either side. Trump has described Scotland as a "very special place" and made a similar trip there in 2016 during his first run for the presidency, but he won't necessarily receive a warm welcome. About 70% of Scots have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 18% have a favorable opinion of him, an Ipsos poll in March found. Scottish police are girding for protests on Saturday in both Aberdeen and in Edinburgh, the country's capital. Trump will return to Britain from September 17-19 for a state visit hosted by King Charles. It will make Trump the first world leader in modern times to undertake two state visits to Britain. The late Queen Elizabeth hosted him at Buckingham Palace for a three-day state visit in June 2019. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Edinburgh and Andrew MacAskill in London; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Shri Navaratnam)
