I TRIED MY DRAMDEST TO DO DEAL

JOHN Swinney has said he and President Trump have had a "constructive discussion" about scrapping tariffs on Scotch whisky.

- BY PAUL HUTCHEON

The First Minister lobbied Trump personally in the Oval Office about binning the levies on the product.

Swinney's brief trip to Washington was geared around making the case for a tariff exemption for whisky.

He met senior congressional figures before meeting Trump in the White House.

In a video, Swinney said he had spent the morning with industry figures from Scotland and the US discussing a "zero-for-zero approach on tariffs".