
Donald Trump brands Nicola Sturgeon a 'terrible first minister'
The US President spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the country on Tuesday evening, adding he 'didn't have a lot of respect' for the former first minister of Scotland.
'I have a lot of respect for [current First Minister John Swinney],' Trump said.
'And I didn't have a lot of respect for the woman that preceded him. I thought she was terrible as first minister of Scotland. I think [Swinney] is doing a very good job.'
A source close to Sturgeon said: 'Trump's lack of respect for women is hardly news. That said, the feeling was entirely mutual.'
Trump was in Scotland for a five-day working holiday over the weekend.
He landed at Prestwick Airport on Friday evening, and played multiple rounds of golf at his two Scottish golf resorts in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire during his trip.
After meeting with the Prime Minister and First Minister, Trump cut the ribbon on the 18-hole course at Trump International Golf Links on the Menie Estate on Tuesday.
Sturgeon stood down as first minister in 2023.
Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump news at a glance: ‘credibility' of US economics data at risk, say experts, as president fires labor dept official
After Donald Trump ordered the firing of a federal government official in charge of labor statistics, experts and opposition politicians have expressed alarm that the 'credibility' of US economic data was at risk. The US president claimed without evidence that Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of labor statistics, had 'rigged' job numbers 'in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad', after data showed jobs growth stalled this summer, prompting accusations that the president was 'firing the messenger'. Bill Beach, a former Heritage Foundation economist who was picked by Trump in 2018 to oversee labor statistics, denounced what he called the 'totally groundless firing'. 'Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act,' said Michael Madowitz, the principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute's Roosevelt Forward, who added that 'credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America's economic data is the foundation on which we've built the strongest economy in the world'. Senate Democrat Ron Wyden said 'this is the act of somebody who is soft, weak and afraid to own up to the reality of the damage his chaos is inflicting on our economy'. The move came as markets around the world were roiled by Trump's latest tariff announcement, which left more than 60 countries scrambling to secure trade deals. Here are the key US politics stories of the day: Donald Trump ordered the firing of the federal government official in charge of labor statistics, hours after data revealed jobs growth stalled this summer, prompting accusations that he was 'firing the messenger'. The US president claimed that Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of labor statistics, had 'faked' employment figures in the run-up to last year's election in an effort to boost Kamala Harris's chances of victory. Trump later claimed: 'Today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' He produced no evidence for these allegations and insisted that the US economy was, in fact, 'BOOMING' on his watch. Read the full story Donald Trump has said that he deployed nuclear-capable submarines to the 'appropriate regions' in response to a threatening tweet by Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev, suggesting that he would be ready to launch a nuclear strike as tensions rise over the war in Ukraine. In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump wrote that he had decided to reposition the nuclear submarines because of 'highly provocative statements' by Medvedev, noting he was now the deputy chair of Russia's security council. Medvedev had earlier said that Trump's threats to sanction Russia and a recent ultimatum were 'a threat and a step towards war'. Read the full story Donald Trump unleashed global chaos with sweeping new tariff rates, triggering a wave of market jitters and fears for jobs in some of the poorest countries, as rates were signed off ranging from 10% to 50%. There was a minor reprieve that opened the door to further negotiations, after the White House said the updated tariffs would take effect on 7 August, not on Friday, the deadline previously set by Trump. Read the full story Donald Trump called on top Federal Reserve officials to seize control from its chair, Jerome Powell, if he fails to cut interest rates, stepping up his extraordinary attacks on the central bank's independence. The US president called Powell 'a stubborn MORON' in a series of critical social media posts on Friday, days after the Fed held rates steady for the fifth consecutive time. Read the full story Americans are struggling financially, grappling with debt and the rising cost of living, and are blaming the Trump administration and corporate interests for worsening economic outlooks for working families, according to a new poll. Read the full story A new Trump administration report that attempts to justify a mass rollback of environmental regulations is chock-full of climate misinformation, experts say. Read the full story The US economy added 73,000 jobs in July, far lower than expected, amid ongoing concerns over Donald Trump's escalating trade war. Poverty and hunger will rise as a result of the Trump administration's unprecedented cuts to the US federal 'food stamps' program, according to experts. Low-income workers who rely on the aid are braced for dire consequences. California's governor, Gavin Newsom, may call a special election in November to begin the process of redrawing the state's congressional maps in response to Texas's plans to change its own maps to help Republicans keep their majority in the House of Representatives. Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking crimes, has been transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a lower-security facility in Texas, the US Bureau of Prisons said on Friday. Kamala Harris has said she currently has no desire to re-enter 'the system' of American politics because it is 'broken'. Sixteen states are suing the Trump administration to defend transgender youth healthcare access, which has rapidly eroded across the US due to threats from the federal government. Catching up? Here's what happened 31 July 2025.


Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report
President Donald Trump has removed the head of the agency that produces monthly jobs figures for the US after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported. Mr Trump, in a post on his social media platform, alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labour Statistics, who was appointed by former president Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence for the charge. 'I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,' Mr Trump said on Truth Social. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.' Mr Trump later posted: 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' The charge that the data was faked threatens to undercut the political legitimacy of the US government's economic data, which has long been seen as the 'gold standard' of economic measurement globally. Economists and Wall Street investors have long accepted the data as free from political bias. After Mr Trump's initial post, labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that Ms McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director. 'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,' Ms Chavez-DeRemer said. Friday's jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated. The report suggested that the economy has sharply weakened during Mr Trump's tenure, a pattern consistent with a slowdown in economic growth during the first half of the year and an increase in inflation during June that appeared to reflect the price pressures created by the president's tariffs. 'What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger,' Democratic senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a Friday speech. Ms McEntarfer was nominated by Mr Biden in 2023 and became the commissioner of the Bureau of Labour Statistics in January 2024. Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but since they are political appointees can be fired. The commissioner is the only political appointee of the agency, which has hundreds of career civil servants. The Senate confirmed Ms McEntarfer to her post 86-8, with now vice president JD Vance among the yea votes. Mr Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just 19,000 from a previously revised 125,000, and for June they were cut to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%. 'No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers,' Mr Trump wrote. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes.' Mr Trump has not always been so suspicious of the monthly jobs report and responded enthusiastically after the initial May figures came out on June 6 when it was initially reported that the economy added 139,000 jobs. 'GREAT JOB NUMBERS, STOCK MARKET UP BIG!' Mr Trump posted at the time. That estimate was later revised down to 125,000 jobs, prior to the most-recent revision down to just 19,000. The monthly employment report is one of the most closely-watched pieces of government economic data and can cause sharp swings in financial markets. The disappointing figure sent US market indexes about 1.5% lower Friday.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Court allows Trump to end union bargaining for federal workers
Aug 1 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a judge's order blocking U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from stripping hundreds of thousands of federal workers of the ability to engage in union bargaining with U.S. agencies. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold, opens new tab an injunction issued by a lower court judge that had been obtained by six unions including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco in June had issued the injunction blocking 21 agencies from implementing Trump's March executive order exempting many federal agencies from obligations to bargain with unions. Donato concluded Trump's order retaliated against unions deemed critical of the president and that had sued over his efforts to overhaul the government, including the mass firings of agency employees, violating their right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. But the 9th Circuit panel said Trump's order on its face "does not express any retaliatory animus," and it agreed with the Trump administration that the president "would have taken the same action even in the absence of the protected conduct." The 9th Circuit panel included U.S. Circuit Judge John Owens, an Obama appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judges Bridget Bade and Daniel Bress, two Trump appointees. Another federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., had in May paused a similar order that had also blocked Trump's order. AFGE National President Everett Kelley in a statement called the Friday ruling "a setback for First Amendment rights in America." The 9th Circuit put the injunction on hold pending a further appeal, and Kelley said the union is "confident in our ability to ultimately prevail." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's order exempted more than a dozen federal agencies from obligations to bargain with unions. They include the Departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, and Health and Human Services. Eliminating collective bargaining would allow agencies to alter working conditions and fire or discipline workers more easily, and it could prevent unions from challenging Trump administration initiatives in court. Trump's executive order exempted agencies that he said "have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work," from collective bargaining obligations, significantly expanding an existing exception for workers with duties implicating national security.