NICOLA Sturgeon has snubbed an olive branch from Donald Trump and vowed not to keep a "diplomatic silence" if the next US President continues to behave in a "deeply abhorrent" manner.
The move by the First Minister came as Theresa May spoke to the President-elect on the telephone after questions were raised about how special the US-UK special relationship was when it emerged he had spoken to nine world leaders before the Prime Minister.
But in the call Mr Trump, whose late mother was Scottish, said the UK was a "very, very special place for me and for our country" and invited Mrs May to Washington. She is expected to go in the New Year.
Read more: Blow for Nicola Sturgeon as Irish reject plea for direct talks over Brexit
At Holyrood, the First Minister's spokesman repeatedly refused to say whether the President-elect would even be welcome in Scotland or if the SNP leader would be willing to meet with the future head of state, should the opportunity arise in future.
The comments came after George Sorial, Mr Trump's senior counsel and executive vice-president of his business empire, said that Tuesday's election could mean a strengthening of ties between the US and Scotland, despite what he described as "reckless comments" made by "some current leaders". Mr Sorial added: "Throughout history there has been a close relationship between America and Scotland and I don't think that will change."
Ms Sturgeon, who departed from tradition by publicly backing Hillary Clinton for the presidency, stripped Mr Trump of his status as a business ambassador for Scotland in December after he called for Muslims to be banned from entering America. She also backed subsequent calls for Mr Trump, who holds significant business interests in Scotland and whose mother was from Stornoway, to be considered for a ban from the UK under anti-hate speech legislation.
Read more: Blow for Nicola Sturgeon as Irish reject plea for direct talks over Brexit
Speaking at First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said she hoped Mr Trump would be a "very different" as a president than he was as a candidate and that she wanted to engage with the new White House administration. She said ties between the countries could become stronger if the incoming President embraced values of "tolerance, respect and diversity".
However, she indicated that she would not shy away from criticism of Mr Trump if he continued with inflammatory rhetoric that characterised his successful campaign for the presidency.
"During the campaign, I found so many of President-elect Trump’s comments to be deeply abhorrent and I never want to be - I am not ever prepared to be - a politician who maintains a diplomatic silence in the face of attitudes of racism, sexism, misogyny or intolerance of any kind.
"People of progressive opinion the world over have to stand up for those values of tolerance and respect for diversity and difference," said the FM.
She added: "I very much hope that we see a President Trump who is very different from the candidate Trump whom we have all witnessed and by whom many of us have been appalled in the past few months."
Speaking to journalists following the Holyrood exchanges, Ms Sturgeon's spokesman dodged questions over whether she would be prepared to meet Mr Trump, a regular visit to Scotland in recent years. He said the President-elect was free to travel to Scotland if he wished but repeatedly refused to be drawn on a possible meeting, emphasising that there were no proposals for a summit with Ms Sturgeon.
Read more: Blow for Nicola Sturgeon as Irish reject plea for direct talks over Brexit
At Westminster, Downing Street was buoyed by Mr Trump’s transatlantic phonecall after eyebrows were raised that he had found time to talk to nine world leaders, including those from Egypt, Australia, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and South Korea but not to Mrs May.
No 10 said the President-elect had spoken of his warmth and personal connections with the UK while the PM congratulated him on his victory. The two, explained a spokesman, shared a "desire to strengthen bilateral trade and investment".
One government head who was quick on the phone to Mr Trump was Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who was invited to the White House during the 10-minute phone call on Wednesday.
Stephen Moore, one of Mr Trump's top advisers has warned a "flood of companies" will leave Ireland under the President-elect's plan to slash corporation tax to woo multinationals headquartered in Europe back across the Atlantic.
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