FOI/202600515995 · FOI · partially withheld
Correspondence with US President's office regarding decision to scrap whisky tariffs: FOI release
Information requested
All correspondence with the office of US President Donald Trump in relation to his decision to scrap tariffs on whisky dated April 20, 2026 and May 1, 2026.
Response
Some of the information you have requested has been included in the attached annex. This includes a copy of an email from the First Minister’s Principal Private Secretary (PPS) which details the message sent by the President’s assistant, on his behalf, for the First Minister.
The second document in the annex is the note from the First Minister of his call with the President Trump. The following exemption has been applied to information in the annex, s.38 (1)(b) – personal information.
The reasons why exemptions have been applied is explained below.
FOISA Exemptions
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because some of the information you have requested is the personal data of third parties. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
The following exemption has been applied to information in the annex, s.38 (1)(b) – personal information. The reasons why exemptions have been applied is explained below. FOISA Exemptions An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.