Trump Congratulates Swinney on SNP Victory

US President Donald Trump congratulated John Swinney on the Scottish National Party's victory in the Scottish parliamentary election, praising the First Minister's efforts to secure tariff relief on Scotch whisky.

The SNP secured 58 seats in the 129-seat Holyrood chamber late Friday, remaining the largest party but falling short of the 65 needed for an outright majority and down from 64 seats won in 2021. Labour and Reform UK each took 17 seats. The results followed voting on Thursday across Scotland.

In a post on his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump wrote: "Congratulations to John Swinney on winning his ReElection 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!"

Swinney had campaigned on securing an overall majority to strengthen the case for Scottish independence. He visited Washington in September, meeting Trump in the Oval Office alongside representatives from the Scotch Whisky Association to advocate for ending a 10 percent US tariff on whisky imports, which industry estimates said cost Scotland...