Splits between Trump and Starmer were on display at Chequers but there were no major disagreements after a difficult few weeks for the PM
Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of Vladimir Putin after Sir Keir Starmer and King Charles used his state visit to the UK to underline the importance of supporting Ukraine.
After a damaging two weeks, which has led to questions about his leadership, the Prime Minister’s efforts to ensure Trump continued to side with Western allies on Ukraine marked something of a victory.
Splits between Starmer and Trump on issues from migration, net zero, Gaza and free speech were on display when the pair spoke to the media following talks at Chequers, the PM’s grace-and-favour country mansion.
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But Downing Street viewed the trip as a success after Starmer and the King’s lobbying on Ukraine appeared to pay off. Trump’s tough talk about the Russian leader will be taken as a win in the PM’s ongoing bid to get Washington to avoid brokering a ceasefire deal that favours Putin.
And a No 10 source insisted “the state visit showed that the UK/US relationship is stronger than ever” and hailed £150bn of American investment into Britain.
The press conference also came as Starmer finally managed to get his one-in, one-out migrant returns deal with France up and running and as left-wing challenger Jeremy Corbyn’s new party appeared to fall apart amid infighting.
Starmer also sidestepped awkward questions about sacked US ambassador Lord Mandelson after Trump claimed “I don’t know him”, and was able to celebrate a new tech deal Trump said would help the UK and US “dominate the future of artificial intelligence”.
On Ukraine, Trump said he had initially thought the war, which he previously claimed he could end within one day of entering the White House, would have been “the easiest” conflict to settle.
But after months of his ultimatums and deadlines for Putin to negotiate for peace came to nothing, Trump said “he’s let me down”.
While the conflict had little direct impact on the US, Trump claimed, he said he felt an “obligation” to bring about peace due to the number of people dying in the conflict.
The President also suggested he could step up sanctions on Russia once European countries stop buying its oil.
Starmer also revealed the pair discussed how the UK and US “can build our defences further to support Ukraine and decisively increase the pressure on Putin to get him to agree a peace deal that will last”.
But splits were evident as Trump suggested the PM should take a tougher line on tackling small boats crossing the Channel, warning that irregular migration “destroys countries from within”.
He said: “You have people coming in and I told the Prime Minister I would stop it, and it doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use.”
Trump also admitted a divide with Starmer on his decision to recognise Palestinian statehood, which could come as soon as this weekend, saying it was “one of our few disagreements”, as the PM was forced to deny he was delaying the move until after the state visit.
The i Paper revealed on Wednesday that the UK was preparing to formally recognise a Palestinian state as soon as the weekend once Trump had returned to the US.
Trump also railed against wind turbines and urged Starmer to exploit oil and gas in the North Sea – “a great asset” – despite Labour’s pledge to end new drilling licenses. A No 10 source made clear there was no change in the Government’s policy despite Trump saying “you have great assets that you’re going to start using, I believe, under this Prime Minister”.
Meanwhile, Starmer was forced to defend UK online safety laws amid ongoing US pressure over free speech following the death of right-wing campaigner Charlie Kirk. He said: “I draw a limit between free speech and the speech of those that want to peddle paedophilia and suicide [on] social media to children.”