Trump Says He Will Remove Tariffs On UK Whisky After King’s Visit

Donald Trump has claimed to remove tariffs on Scottish whisky in honour of King Charles and Queen Camilla after their state visit.

The US president announced on TruthSocial on Thursday evening that this decision would help boost industry in Scotland and Kentucky.

The UK government has since confirmed this applies to all whisky tariffs including those on Irish whiskey.

Trump, known for being an ardent royalist, added in his post: “The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking! A wonderful Honor to have them both in the U.S.A.”

His announcement came after the monarch and his wife visited the White House this week.

Buckingham Palace said the King sent his “sincere gratitude” to Trump and “will be raising a dram to the President’s thoughtfulness”.

The president said he would be removing tariffs and restrictions related to “Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon, two very important industries within Scotland and Kentucky”.

The two areas are linked through the use of wooden barrels to age the alcohol.

Trump, who declared sweeping tariffs on international allies in April 2025, has often used alcohol to apply pressure to other countries.

He threatened a 200% tariff on European wine last year, though it was never realised.

Business and trade secretary Peter Kyle welcomed the announcement, saying: “This is great news for our scotch whisky industry, which is worth almost £1bn in exports and supports thousands of jobs across the UK.”

The state visit from the royals came amid rising tensions between the UK and the US governments after Keir Starmer refused to join in America’s offensive on Iran at the end of February.

Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the prime minister in the months since, saying the Labour leader was “not Winston Churchill”.

But in the run-up to the royal visit, the president suggested Charles’s visit could help to repair the fractured “special relationship”.

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