Fact Check: Yes, Trump was called a 'convicted US felon' by Scottish newspaper
In advance of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, Scottish newspaper The National's front page read "Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland."
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In late July 2025, claims about how a Scottish newspaper characterized U.S. President Donald Trump in advance of his visit to Scotland gained attention across social media platforms.
For instance, a July 27 Facebook post (archived) featured an alleged image of the newspaper's front page reading: "This is how one of Scotland's largest publications welcomed Donald Trump!"
(Occupy Democrats/Facebook)
The post accumulated more than 34,000 reactions as of this writing. Similar claims have appeared across Facebook (archived), as well as on Reddit (archived) and Bluesky (archived).
We found this claim to be true.
The National, a Scottish newspaper, published (archived) a front page with the headline "Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland" on July 25 as Trump arrived in Scotland. The newspaper's front-page story included the subheading "Republican leader, who was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, will visit golf courses."
The National's official X account posted (archived) the front page with the caption: "Tomorrow's front page. Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland."
The X account also posted (archived) a video that showed one of the paper's journalists, Laura Pollock, holding the print version, stating: "Supporters of Donald Trump are very angry at our front page this morning but we have a challenge for them. Which part is factually inaccurate?"
The description "convicted US felon" is factually accurate. Trump was convicted (archived) on May 30, 2024, by a Manhattan jury on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, related to hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Although he received an "unconditional discharge" sentence on Jan. 10, 2025 — meaning no prison time, probation or fines — the conviction remains on his record.
The National is a Scottish daily newspaper owned by Newsquest Media Group, which has been a subsidiary of the American media company Gannett — publisher of USA Today — since 1999. It began publication (archived) on Nov. 24, 2014, and was the first daily newspaper in Scotland to support Scottish independence.
Media Bias/Fact Check, a tool that provides transparency to a source's biases and objectivity, rated (archived) The National as "Left-Center biased based on editorial positions that moderately favor the left" while giving it a "High" rating for factual reporting due to "the use of credible sources and a clean fact-check record."
Shalal, Andrea and Andrew Macaskill. "Trump travels to Scotland for golf and bilateral talks amid Epstein furor." Reuters, 25 July 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-travels-scotland-golf-bilateral-talks-eu-trade-deal-nears-2025-07-25/. Accessed 25 July 2025.
Jackson, Lucky. "The National newspaper front page as Donald Trump visits Scotland." The National, 25 July 2025, https://www.thenational.scot/news/25340181.national-newspaper-front-page-donald-trump-scotland-visit/. Accessed 25 July 2025.
Herb, Jeremy, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell. "Trump found guilty in hush money trial." CNN, 30 May 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/30/politics/donald-trump-hush-money-trial-verdict/index.html. Accessed 25 July 2025.
Bustillo, Ximena. "Trump is sentenced in hush money case — but gets no penalty or fine." NPR, 10 Jan. 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/nx-s1-5253927/trump-sentencing-new-york. Accessed 25 July 2025.
Press Association. "The National launches in Scotland 'to fly flag for independence'." The Guardian, 24 Nov. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/24/the-national-scotland-newsquest-pro-independence. Accessed 25 July 2025.
"The National – Scotland – Bias and Credibility." Media Bias/Fact Check, https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-national-scotland-bias/. Accessed 25 July 2025.
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