The meeting took place over tea and biscuits, is understood to have lasted about 50 minutes and solely focused on Trump’s golf resorts, according to his son.

It comes after the first minister said he did not think it would be appropriate for Donald Trump to be offered a second state visit to the UK.

It is understood Eric Trump flew into Edinburgh Airport earlier on Thursday.

Trump Turnberry, the resort in Ayrshire, was vandalised by a pro-Palestinian group over the weekend.

Red paint was daubed over one of the buildings. The words “Gaza is not for sale” were sprayed across one green and another green appeared to have been dug up.

After the meeting, which also included Sarah Malone – executive vice president of Trump International – the Scottish government said the first minister “regularly meets with business people”.

A spokesperson said: “The meeting with Mr Trump provided an opportunity to discuss Scotland’s investment potential and the first minister was pleased to hear about the company’s continued commitment to Scotland, in particular Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire.”

Eric Trump said the meeting was “very warm and friendly” and that he was thanked for the Trump Organization’s investment in Scotland.

He said: “Our discussions focused solely on the Trump Organisation’s commitment to creating in Trump Turnberry and Trump International in Aberdeenshire two of the most iconic golf destinations in the world.

“We did not discuss Scottish or US politics but concentrated on golf. It was a very positive and constructive meeting about business and investment.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer used a US visit earlier this month to present Donald Trump with a letter from the King, offering an initial meeting in Scotland to discuss the logistics of a second state visit.

Second-term US presidents are traditionally not offered state visits and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, usually at Windsor Castle.

The King invited President Trump to meet him at either Balmoral or Dumfries House – which are both near the Trump resorts.

Balmoral is only about 58 miles (93km) from the Trump International golf resort in Menie, where the president is due to open a new course named after his mother this summer.

The following day the US President had a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which spiralled into a fiery showdown.

Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” and, alongside Vice-President JD Vance, demanded that he show more gratitude for years of US support.

The Ukrainian president pushed back at suggestions from his more powerful partners that he should work harder to agree a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin. They responded that he was being “disrespectful”.

A number of SNP MPs have criticised the prime minister’s relationship with Trump on social media, including the party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn who said Starmer “better get back up off his knees and revoke that offer of a state visit”.

Taking a different tone from colleagues, Swinney said he welcomed the role the prime minister was taking and that he supported him trying to find a way through a difficult situation.

But he added that he could not see how a state visit could go ahead if Trump was “not a steadfast ally of ours in protecting the future of Ukraine”.

Swinney has previously said he would use Trump’s affinity for Scotland in a bid to avoid tariffs being applied on imports to the US, particularly on Scotch whisky.

He had publicly backed Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the run up to the 2024 presidential election.

But he had a phone conversation with the new president in December and said afterwards Trump had been keen to “express his enthusiasm for Scotland”.

The Scottish Greens, who previously said Trump is not welcome in Scotland, said the decision to meet Eric Trump was “totally inappropriate” and sent a “terrible message”.

Co-leader Lorna Slater added: “When it comes to the Trumps, the line between business and politics has always been blurred.”

Scotland’s Makar Peter Mackay said he had “huge concerns” about the technology in terms of the creation of new literature and books.

AI tools available include ones designed for research, and others that can suggest sentence structures, character traits, dialogue options and plot twists.

Mr Mackay said among ideas to better protect new writing included food packaging-style guides for work written by computers, and special logos for the covers of AI-free books.

Lewis-born Gaelic poet Mackay was appointed Scotland’s national poet in December.

The original makars were medieval poets or bards, often tied to the royal court and expected to make work for significant occasions.

For the past two decades, Scottish cities have appointed their own makars and in 2004 the first national poet was appointed.

Mr Mackay is eager to encourage new writing.

But he said: “I have got huge concerns about AI in terms of the creation of new literature and creation of new books, partly because as a writer it could be disastrous for new people who are in the profession.

“It’s very hard to make a living as a writer anyway and if you are having to compete with the cumulative knowledge of every book written before condensed into some form of conglomerate, that is very hard to do.”

Last year, Mackay attended a workshop for writers, publishers and academics where AI was a topic of discussion.

Attendees looked at how it might be possible to make it clear a piece of writing was not computer generated.

Mr Mackay said: “One of the things that was discussed was a Harris Tweed Orb or Kitemark-style mark to say 100% AI-free or 100% organically produced.”

Harris Tweed’s Orb logo is sewed in clothing, and other items that use the fabric, to show the tweed has been handwoven and finished by islanders in the Western Isles, and made from wool dyed and spun in the islands.

The British Standards Institution’s Kitemark has been used as a trademark on UK-made products for more than 120 years.

Mr Mackay said alternatively books created using AI could include a break down of the sources of its style and sentence structure, similar to way additives are listed on cereal boxes.

“It might outline this is 1% Vladimir Nabokov, 2% Gertrude Stein,” he said.

Mackay is a judge on this year’s Highland Book Prize and he believes the competition and other literary awards could also play a part in protecting AI-free writing.

“I think one of the things book prizes do is celebrate oddity, celebrate diversity, celebrate distinctive style, the kind of thing that AI doesn’t do at the moment,” he said.

“It is the odd turn of phrase rather than the expected turn of phrase and I would hope that book prizes are still able to do that.

“They offer a marker of really interesting, new, distinctive voices.”

He added: “I dread the first time a prize is won by something that turns out to be AI generated.

“Where would that leave the people who have been sitting for hours by themselves scribbling away having to compete with computer-generated poems, short stories and novels?”

Katie Brown, 25, who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, along with her father Graeme and his wife Vikki, told how they were left “stranded” in Vienna on Friday without luggage or vital medication.

They told BBC Scotland News they were thousands of euros out of pocket after having to book accommodation and an alternative flight home.

Ryanair and Vienna International Airport have been asked to comment.

The family were offered seats on the next available Ryanair flight home. However, they were told this would not be until five days later, on New Year’s Day, meaning they would miss Katie’s 26th birthday celebrations on Hogmanay.

Instead, they paid for a Jet2 flight home on Sunday.

The family, who had enjoyed a “lovely” Christmas break in the Austrian capital, said their flight home was initially delayed by two hours due to a technical fault.

They said they were escorted by airport assistance staff to a gate along with an 84-year-old solo passenger, who was also in a wheelchair.

After the staff failed to show up to board them on the flight, they were told it had been cancelled. They later learned the flight had taken off without them and the solo passenger.

Katie said: “The fact that our bags – including my medication – were flown home without us is shocking.

“We were abandoned at a gate and lied to, being told the flight was cancelled when it wasn’t.

“It feels like the airline decided it was cheaper to leave us behind than to risk potentially having to pay a hefty compensation bill for delaying the flight beyond three hours.

“It looks like they made a judgement call to save money at the expense of disabled passengers. It’s disgraceful and has left us feeling completely dehumanised.”

As well as paying for an alternative flight home, the family also had to pay for emergency medication, accommodation, clothing, and essentials in one of Europe’s most expensive cities.

Graeme Brown told BBC Scotland News his family were given “quite an interrogation” by passport control staff when they checked in for their replacement Jet2 flight home.

He said the security system showed the family had been stamped as leaving Austria on Friday.

Mr Brown also said Jet2 staff later described the non-removal of their luggage from the Ryanair flight as “a major security breach”.

According to flightstats.com, the initial flight left Vienna almost two hours and 40 minutes behind schedule, and landed almost two-and-a-half hours late.

Ryanair policy states that passengers could be entitled to compensation if their flight is delayed by three or more hours.

The family said the airline denied any liability for the incident, instead blaming the airport’s special assistance staff.

They said they have not received an apology or formal explanation for the incident.