Trump has warned Vladimir Putin that he has 'ten or 12 days' to end the war in Ukraine
In what is becoming a common occurrence when meeting with world leaders, Trump made many remarks during a lengthy press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, which lasted over one hour.
During the news conference, the American President claimed the US will work to curb starvation in Gaza and that he 'never had the privilege' of visiting Jeffery Epstein's island in the Caribbean.
Trump also announced a slashing of the 50-day deadline he had given to Russia this month to end its war in Ukraine.
Asked what the new date for the Russian president was, Trump said: 'I'm going to make a new deadline of about ten, ten or 12 days, from today. There's no reason in waiting [for the whole 50 days].
'It was 50 days, I wanted to be generous. But, we just don't see any progress being made.'
Trump on Putin: "I'm gonna make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today."
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (
@atrupar.com
)
July 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Earlier this month, Trump had
pledged to sanction Russia with severe trading tariffs should a deal not be agreed
.
He, today, said: 'Russia could be so rich right now, instead they spend all their money on war. They could be so rich, but they spend their money on killing people. I thought he [Putin] would want to end this thing quickly.
'But every time I think it's going to end, he kills people,' Trump told reporters, adding that he was no longer interested in holding discussions with the Russian President, insisting that Putin acts in bad faith.
Increasing aid in Gaza
Trump claimed that the US' joint-plan with Israel to increase aid in Gaza, through airdrops and the controversial operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has received support from Starmer and other European nations.
Starmer, who welcomed the approval of the Israeli government for countries to airdrop aid in to the war-torn region of Gaza, said the UK willing to work with the US, whose food distribution operations has led to the deaths of over 1,000 people in recent weeks.
Neither leader mentioned the fact that previous aid airdrop missions led to the harm and death of Palestinians, including a number of people that had drowned when seeking to recoup aid that had landed off the coast of the region.
'We do have to take care of the humanitarian needs of, what they used to call, the Gaza Strip. You don't hear that line too much any more, you don't hear the Gaza Strip, but it is the Gaza Strip,' Trump said.
Advertisement
The US President said that food centres would be set up in the region and claimed that 'trillions of dollars' have been raised for the plan – adding that 'we're going to spend a little bit of money on some food'.
Trump said it was 'crazy' that Palestinians in Gaza were not able to access food.
Today, the head of the UN's aid agency said Israel
needed to redouble its efforts to accelerate the delivery of aid into Gaza
, after the government agreed to expand humanitarian access for just one week.
'We have to get the kids fed, so we've been sending in a lot of food.'
US president Donald Trump speaks about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
https://t.co/cGzLRc3vx4
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube
pic.twitter.com/7XnILO2yQr
— Sky News (@SkyNews)
July 28, 2025
The first aid airdrops also landed in the country today. The UN said it would attempt to reach as many people as possible now that secure land routes have been announced.
The UN and independent NGOs working in the region have warned that Palestinians are at risk of starvation after four months of an Israel's siege on Gaza. An estimated 62,000 tonnes of food are needed to meet basic needs, the World Food Project said today.
Trump acknowledged the warnings today, claiming that the US were working to improve the situation of the millions of Palestinians who have been displaced from their homes in the months of Israel's war.
'Never had the privilege' of attending Epstein's island
Trump was also asked about his previous relationship with prolific sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking.
The US President knew and socialised with Epstein before entering politics, including when they were neighbours in Florida. Trump has always denied visiting the US Virgin Islands home, where prosecutors say the man sex trafficked underage girls.
'I never went to the island,' Trump said today, before naming a number of people who allegedly met with the financier Epstein at his home in the Caribbean and that 'no body ever talks about'.
'I never had the privilege of going to his island,' Trump added. 'I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach went to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.'
Far-right Trump supporters have claimed the existence of a still-secret client list belonging to Epstein, and that he was murdered in his cell as part of a cover-up.
They expected the Republican administration to answer their questions on Trump's return to office in January, and were met with promises to do so from earmarked cabinet appointees.
Now, supporters find themselves being told the conspiracy theories are false. The Justice Department and FBI said in a memo made public this month that there is
no evidence that Epstein kept a 'client list'
or was blackmailing powerful people.
The issue has caused a
public rift
in the MAGA movement.
With reporting by AFP
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More
Support The Journal
Hashtags

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


RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Trump orders firing of US official over jobs market report
US President Donald Trump said he has ordered the firing of a key economic official, accusing her of manipulating employment data for political reasons after a new report showed cracks in the US jobs market. US job growth missed expectations in July, Labor Department data showed, and revisions to hiring figures in recent months brought them to the weakest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic. Without providing evidence, Mr Trump lashed out at the department's commissioner of labour statistics, writing on social media that the jobs numbers "were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad". In a separate post on his Truth Social platform, he charged that Commissioner Erika McEntarfer had "faked" jobs data to boost Democrats' chances of victory in the recent presidential election. "McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months," Mr Trump said, referring to latest data for July. "Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative," Mr Trump said, insisting that the world's biggest economy was "booming" under his leadership. He later told reporters "we need people that we can trust," accusing the economic official of inflating hiring figures under former president Joe Biden's administration. 'Dangerous precedent' The United States added 73,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%, said the Department of Labor yesterday. Hiring numbers for May were revised down from 144,000 to 19,000. The figure for June was shifted from 147,000 to 14,000. This was notably lower than job creation levels in recent years. During the pandemic, the economy lost jobs. The employment data points to challenges in the key labour market as companies took a cautious approach in hiring and investment while grappling with Mr Trump's sweeping - and rapidly changing - tariffs this year. The numbers also pile pressure on the central bank as it mulls the best time to cut interest rates. With tariff levels climbing since the start of the year, both on imports from various countries and on sector-specific products such as steel, aluminum and autos, many firms have faced higher business costs. Some are now passing them on to consumers. William Beach, who previously held Ms McEntarfer's post at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, warned that her firing "sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau." The National Association for Business Economics condemned her dismissal, saying large revisions in jobs numbers "reflect not manipulation, but rather the dwindling resources afforded to statistical agencies." "Firing the head of a key government agency because you don't like the numbers they report, which come from surveys using long established procedures, is what happens in authoritarian countries, not democratic ones," slammed Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary under Democratic president Bill Clinton. 'Gamechanger' Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, said the latest jobs report was a "gamechanger". "The labour market is deteriorating quickly," said Ms Long, noting that of the growth in July, "75 percent of those jobs were in one sector: health care." "The economy needs certainty soon on tariffs," Ms Long said. "The longer this tariff whiplash lasts, the more likely this weak hiring environment turns into layoffs." It remains unclear when the dust will settle, with Mr Trump ordering the reimposition of steeper tariffs on scores of economies late Thursday, which are set to take effect in a week. A sharp weakening in the labour market could push the Federal Reserve toward slashing interest rates sooner to shore up the economy. Yesterday, the two Fed officials who voted this week against the central bank's decision to keep rates unchanged warned that standing pat risks further damaging the economy. Both Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller argued that the inflationary effects of tariffs were temporary. They added in separate statements that the bank should focus on fortifying the economy to avert further weakening in the labor market. Putting off an interest rate cut "could result in a deterioration in the labor market and a further slowing in economic growth," Ms Bowman said.


Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Negotiation on EU-US trade deal continues, with tariffs pushed back for another week
This gives European Commission negotiators more time to clarify details of the new trade deal, as they try to extend the range of goods to which the 15pc rate will not apply. On Thursday, the commission said it had not been able to achieve a zero-for-zero carve-out for the drinks sector. France is already pressing for parts of the deal to be renegotiated. 'It's a stage and we won't stop here,' French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told broadcaster France Info. 'We want new concessions, guarantees on wine and spirits, a readjustment, [and] a rebalancing on the service sector – in particular digital services.' Speaking after a meeting of the trade forum in Government Buildings, Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris said it was Ireland's understanding that the EU's 15pc rate was fully inclusive – incorporating existing tariffs – unlike the UK's 10pc. Confirming that pharmaceuticals will remain at a zero per cent tariff until the White House completes a Section 232 investigation – which determines how specific imports will affect US national security – Mr Harris said he had been informed by Brussels that this was likely to conclude in about two weeks. 'Without a deal between the US and the EU, today would have seen 30pc tariffs introduced by President Trump on the EU, and significant counter-measures by the EU to the tune of around €90-odd billion,' he said. 'There's absolutely no doubt that would have been a moment of catastrophe in terms of our economic well-being as a country. We'd be in a very different and a much worse position, I think, if we were standing here today with no deal. 'You don't have to take my word for that if you just see the executive order last night and all of the tariffs levelled in other countries, including countries that didn't have deals.' On Thursday night, Mr Trump signed an executive order to introduce tariffs on more than 60 countries. Most of these will take effect on August 7, but a 35pc levy on some exports from Canada came into effect immediately. The highest rates were slapped on Syria, Laos and Myanmar, which now face tariffs of about 40pc. A rate of 35pc was applied in Switzerland. The country has a big trade deficit with the US, reaching $38bn (€33bn) last year, but the White House implied that Switzerland was also being penalised for its pharma industry. ADVERTISEMENT US trade representative Jamieson Greer told BloombergTelevision: 'They ship enormous amounts of pharmaceuticals to our country. We want to be making pharmaceuticals in our country.' As usual, the extended deadline gives these countries more time to negotiate a deal with the US before the tariffs are applied. If introduced, however, it will mean the US is applying an average rate six times higher than when former president Joe Biden was in office. Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said: 'The average US tariff jumps from 13.3pc to 15.2pc, a seismic shift from the 2.3pc average before Trump retook office.' In a briefing to its members after the trade forum, Ibec pointed out that clarity was still needed on precisely what goods would drop to a zero tariff after August 7. 'Goods that may benefit from zero tariffs or zero-for-zero tariffs ... (including aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic medicines, semiconductor equipment, selected agricultural products, natural resources, and critical raw materials) will require the final EU-US joint statement to confirm which specific HS codes will be exempt,' Ibec's Danny McCoy said. 'Negotiations on additional zero-for-zero arrangements not covered by the joint statement may continue in the weeks ahead.'


Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
The Irish Independent's View: Prudence, rather than largesse, makes most economic sense for Ireland right now
As August begins, we have already seen so many budgetary kites take flight to tell us the making of the next year's budget starts earlier each year. Right now, Ireland is a rich nation and its people have expectations that accord with that. But in a Trumpian discordant world, that situation could change rapidly, as we found to our cost in 2008 when we entered what former finance minister Michael Noonan later called 'a lost decade'. Ireland's small, open economic model leaves us susceptible to swift boom-and-bust switches. In early October, we will learn the 2026 financial plans of 'Mr Prudence' himself, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. Many of us believe we deserve more goodies, but this is more a time for caution. If tough global economic times hit soon, we will be in a better position than we were in 2008, but the atypical budget surplus, which contrasts with our European neighbours, can only cushion so much. Ireland cannot be an economic outlier forever. We are reminded that the days of the early 2000s, when taoiseach Bertie Ahern declaimed that the 'boom just got boomier', presaged tough economic times. The impact of Donald Trump's tariffs may diminish the resources available for such largesse Mr Donohoe and his colleagues insist that one-off budget payments, like electricity bill grants, are not going to happen next year, but closer analysis suggests the Government's dilemma is that voters will notice the difference if they do not happen again. This is particularly true for households with children, who benefited from two double welfare payments. For a single worker on €50,000 last year, the budget measures delivered about €860 extra per year. When you add the two energy credits amounting to €250, you find it was a nice bonus that will be missed. The impact of Donald Trump's tariffs may diminish the resources available for such largesse, which should at all events be targeted, rather than blanket, measures. It may also provide some political cover for a more prudent approach to public spending. Last month's Summer Economic Statement indicated that there would be scope for a tax package of about €1.5bn, but a substantial part of that would be taken up by the pledged hospitality Vat rate cut to 9pc. Put this alongside keeping the lower Vat rate on household energy bills and you are suddenly over €1bn for a full year. Yet voters want income tax cuts, which are key to politicians' re-election, assuming there is available cash. Then there is the demand for welfare increases averaging €12 a week last year. All things considered, the Budget 2026 will prove more challenging than in the years of austerity when cutbacks virtually wrote themselves.