Much has been made of the unpredictability of a Donald Trump administration in the US - probably for good reason given his previous term as President.

That said, there are some things with Mr Trump that you could almost set your watch by, and we had a good example of that in his first week back in his old job.

On Tuesday, his second day this time round, he most predictably took a swipe at the European Union as he talked about imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese-made goods arriving in the US from as early as February 1.

And he did so with the kind of bluntness to which we have become accustomed.

Talking tough on trade, Mr Trump declared: “We have a $350bn deficit with the European Union. They treat us very, very badly, so they’re going to be in for tariffs.”

There has, of course, already been much theatre around Mr Trump’s comeback.

His signing of various dramatic executive orders including the declaration of illegal immigration at the border as a national emergency - contained in individual folders that looked like giant versions of those in which many restaurant bills are delivered - was given maximum television exposure.

It remains to be seen exactly what will happen, when or if the theatre calms down.

That said, the mood music towards the EU is pretty clear, and should obviously be taken seriously, based not only on what is being said this time round but on what happened when Mr Trump was last in power regarding trade between the bloc and the US.

There are also, for very good reasons, major fears among Scottish and UK businesses about what Mr Trump might mean for them in terms of the potential for tariffs on their exports to the US.........

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