Donald Trump has congratulated John Swinney on winning power once again following a crushing SNP defeat of Labour in Scotland.
In what could be seen as a thinly veiled attack on Sir Keir Starmer, the US president praised the SNP leader as a “good man” who “deserves this big electoral victory”.
John Swinney’s party took 58 seats, falling short of the 65 needed to win an overall majority, but are by far the largest party in the Scottish parliament after Labour and Reform UK both emerged with just 17 seats.
Hours after the result was announced, Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Congratulations to John Swinney on winning his Re-Election for First Minister of Scotland. He is a good man, who worked very hard, along with the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, with respect to Tariff relief for Great Scottish Whiskey – and deserves this Big Electoral Victory!”
The post backs up Mr Swinney’s claim that he worked to deliver the removal of US tariffs on Scottish whiskey, which was announced shortly after the King’s state visit.
The SNP leader was forced to release a thank you text he received from Mr Trump after he was initially mocked on social media for the claim.
The US president’s social media post could perhaps be seen as a swipe at the prime minister, who has suffered from worsening relations with Mr Trump in recent months.
The pair continue to be at odds with each other over the president’s approach to war in the Middle East, with Mr Trump calling Sir Keir “no Winston Churchill” earlier this year.
Sir Keir has faced calls to resign after the disastrous set of elections in Scotland, Wales and local councils across England.
But the prime minister has insisted he “will not walk away” and has vowed to fight on as Labour leader, despite being blamed for losing hundreds of councillors in England and a major humiliation in Wales.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar admitted his party was “hurting” after the result in Scotland.
Asked if he blamed Sir Keir Starmer for the results on Friday, Mr Sarwar said: “Throughout this election campaign, I have tried to make this election about Scotland, I’m not going to change that today.
“Is there a national wave, though, that we tried to overcome and failed to do so? Yes.”
Labour haemorrhaged support in former strongholds while Reform UK made stunning gains and Plaid Cymru became the largest party in a Senedd election that left outgoing first minister Eluned Morgan without a seat.
The results have reignited rumblings of a leadership contest, with some backbench MPs openly calling on Sir Keir to set out a timetable for his departure and others urging an immediate change in direction.
Richard Burgon, leader of the Socialist Campaign Group of left-wing Labour MPs, demanded Sir Keir set out a timetable for his departure.
“It is clear that Keir has fought his last election as Labour leader and, deep down, he will know it,” he said.
But Sir Keir has defiantly vowed to stand firm as prime minister, with some ministers also insisting there will be no attempt to push him out.
Speaking as the results came in on Friday, Sir Keir vowed: “I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.”
