'Call with Donald Trump one of most absurd moments as first minister', says Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon has said a ten-minute phone call with Donald Trump “must rank amongst the most absurd” moments of her entire time as first minister.

The confession features in Sturgeon’s memoir Frankly, which is scheduled to be released on Thursday, August 14.

She said the phone call, which took place between Trump’s election in 2016 and his inauguration in January 2017, was one of two interactions she had with the US President

“The ten minutes or so that followed must rank amongst the most absurd of my entire time in office,” Sturgeon wrote.

Sturgeon said she “rightly suspected” that if she didn’t speak straight away, she might not get the chance.

“So, I jumped in quickly. I said that notwithstanding our political disagreements, something of an understatement, I wanted to see the long-standing relationship between Scotland and the US go from strength to strength,” she wrote.

Sturgeon hoped that “some of the rhetoric” of Trump’s campaign – such as Muslim bans – would find no place in the actions of his administration and also asked whether his sons would take over the management of his Scottish businesses.

“I doubt he heard a single word,” Sturgeon said.

However, she said Trump “must have sensed” she was finished speaking, and she said he “launched into his monologue”.

“Did I know he was Scottish? On his mother’s side? She was the best mother anyone had ever had. Scotland was a great country. Apart from our mad obsession with wind power, which was a danger to the future of humanity, didn’t I realise?” Sturgeon said.

“I should bring my family to stay at the White House as soon as he had moved in, at which point he asked the person next to him when that would be and said I was just to let him know dates. Had I noticed what had happened to the US economy since his election? The stock-market had reached an all-time high. No president had ever created such a strong economy and he wasn’t even in office yet. His popularity ratings were soaring too. It was unprecedented. And his sons? Did I know he had the smartest sons any father had ever had?

“And so it went on. When the called ended, I wondered if I had just woken from a very bad acid dream.”

After the call ended, Sturgeon said the US national security adviser called her chief of staff to ask “if it was true that the president-elect had just spoken to the First Minister, and if so, could she tell him what had been discussed”.

‘I’m sorry Hillary Clinton couldn’t be president’

Sturgeon also described Trump’s defeated political rival, Hillary Clinton, as “someone [she] had looked up to for a long time”.

Sturgeon added she was “sorry” Clinton wasn’t elected as the first female US president.

“[Clinton] is a trailblazer on the frontline of all the battles that women of my generation in politics have had to fight, the battles we are still fighting in many ways. Her fortitude, dignity, and sheer resilience in the face of everything that has been thrown at her, mainly by men not fit to lace her boots, inspires and energizes me,” Sturgeon wrote.

“When the US finally does elect its first female president – which at the time of writing feels further away than ever – she will owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Hillary Clinton. I am just sorry it couldn’t have been her.”

Nicola Sturgeon: The Interview will be broadcast on Monday, August 11 at 7pm on STV and STV Player.

An extended version of the interview will be available on STV Player in the following days.

Frankly by Nicola Sturgeon, published by Pan Macmillan, is available from Thursday, August 14.