Donald Trump congratulates John Swinney after SNP defeat Labour in Scotland

Donald Trump has congratulated John Swinney on returning to power once again following the SNP’s crushing defeat of Labor 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 “deserved this huge election victory”.

John Swinney’s party won 58 seats, falling short of the 65 seats needed to achieve an overall majority, but became by far the largest party in the Scottish parliament after Labor and Reform UK emerged with just 17 seats.

Hours after the result was announced, Mr Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform: “Congratulations to John Swinney on being re-elected as First Minister of Scotland. He is a good man who worked hard with the King and Queen of the UK on the tariff reduction for Great Scotch Whiskey and he deserves this Great Election Victory!”

The post supports Mr Swinney’s claim that he is working to remove US tariffs on Scotch whisky, which were announced shortly after the King’s state visit.

The SNP leader was forced to publish a thank you text he received from Mr Trump after he was initially mocked on social media for his claim.

The US president’s social media post could perhaps be seen as a slap at the prime minister, whose relations with Trump have deteriorated in recent months.

The two continue to be at odds with each other over the president’s approach to the war in the Middle East; “There is no Winston Churchill,” Mr Trump told Sir Keir earlier this year.

Sir Keir faces calls to resign following disastrous elections to local councils across Scotland, Wales and England.

But the prime minister insisted he was “not going away” and vowed to keep fighting as Labor leader despite being accused of losing hundreds of councilors in England and suffering huge humiliation in Wales.

Scottish Labor Party leader Anas Sarwar admitted his party was “hurt” after the result in Scotland.

Asked whether he blamed Sir Keir Starmer for Friday’s results, Mr Sarwar said: “Throughout this election campaign, I have tried to make this election about Scotland, I’m not going to change that today.

“But is there a national wave that we’re trying to overcome but can’t? Yes.”

While Labor lost support in its former strongholds, Reform UK made striking gains and Plaid Cymru became the largest party in the Senedd elections that left outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan without a seat.

The results reignited rumblings of a leadership contest, with some backbencher MPs openly calling for Sir Keir to set a timetable for his departure and others calling for an immediate change of direction.

Richard Burgon, leader of the Socialist Campaign Group of left-wing Labor MPs, demanded Sir Keir set a timetable for his departure.

“It is clear that Keir struggled in his last election as Labor leader and deep down he will know that,” he said.

But Sir Keir has defiantly vowed to stand firm as prime minister and some ministers have insisted there will be no attempt to remove him from office.

Speaking as the results were announced on Friday, Sir Keir vowed: “I will not go and plunge the country into chaos.”