Trump speaks of ‘great love' for Scotland and labels Starmer a ‘tax cutter'
The American leader attacked Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan as a 'nasty person' and hailed both Sir Keir and Nigel Farage as 'great men' as the leaders took a series of questions across domestic and foreign affairs.
The president also indicated that the US may not impose heavy tariffs on British pharmaceuticals, telling reporters that 'we certainly feel a lot better' about the UK working on drugs that will be sold in the States compared to other nations.
Mr Trump and Sir Keir took questions for more than an hour in a meandering press conference ahead of their meeting at Turnberry on Tuesday afternoon.
Referring to the Prime Minister and the Reform UK leader, the US president said: 'I happen to like both men. I like this man (Sir Keir) a lot, and I like Nigel.
'And, you know, I don't know the politics over here. I don't know where they stand. I would say one is slightly liberal – not that liberal, slightly – and the other one is slightly conservative, but they're they're both good men.'
He added: '(Sir Keir) did a great thing with the economy, because a lot of money is going to come in because of the deal that was made. But I think that, I think that immigration is now bigger than ever before.'
The president had earlier said that he thinks Sir Keir, who has been in office for more than a year, will be 'a tax cutter.'
The two leaders were expected to discuss trade as part of their meeting, weeks after Mr Trump unveiled a new tariff regime for goods entering the US from other nations.
Asked by reporters whether his plans for an import levy on medicines would affect the UK, the US president told reporters: 'We will be announcing on pharmaceuticals some time in the very near future. We have a very big plan on pharmaceuticals.
'We want to bring a lot of the pharmaceuticals back to America, where they should be.'
He later added: 'You also have a good pharmaceutical business – we'll be dealing with you on pharmaceuticals also – and we certainly feel a lot better with your country working on pharmaceuticals for America than some of the other countries that were … with the relationship we have, you would not use that as a cudgel. You wouldn't be using it as a block.'
During the same press conference, Mr Trump described the Labour London mayor Sir Sadiq as a 'nasty person' who has done 'a terrible job', while Sir Keir jumped to his defence.
Speaking to reporters, the US president said: 'I'm not a fan of your mayor. I think he's done a terrible job, the Mayor of London … a nasty person.'
The Prime Minister intervened to say: 'He's a friend of mine, actually.'
The question session inside the President's Turnberry resort came after he suggested that the UK is 'doing a fantastic thing' in trying to reduce immigration via small boat crossings.
Mr Trump said he knows 'nothing about the boats' when asked about the issue but said 'my hats are off to you' if the UK is trying to reduce immigration.
Sir Keir and his wife Lady Starmer were greeted by the President and a chorus of bagpipes as they arrived in South Ayrshire on Monday.
When Mr Trump was asked about how he would deal with small boats, Sir Keir explained that it refers to people who are crossing the Channel.
Mr Trump told reporters: 'If you're stopping immigration and stopping the wrong people … my hats are off to you. You're doing, not a good thing, you're doing a fantastic thing.
'So, I know nothing about the boats, but if the boats are loaded up with bad people, and they usually are, because, you know, other countries don't send their best, they send people that they don't want, and they're not stupid people, and they send the people that they don't want.'
Turning to the Prime Minister, Mr Trump added: 'And I've heard that you've taken a much stronger stance on this.'
The latest data from the Home Office indicates that 122 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday.
Asked about tariffs on whisky, Mr Trump said: 'We'll talk about that, I didn't know whisky was a problem. I'm not a big whisky drinker but maybe I should be.'
And he said of the special relationship: 'Our relationship is unparalleled.'
The meeting between the leaders comes as part of Mr Trump's five-day, private trip to Scotland.
No 10 said they reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and agreed to continue talks on the UK-US trade deal during their private talks at Turnberry.
They also discussed plans for the president's upcoming state visit in September, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
Asian shares track rally on Wall Street that won back most of Friday's wipeout
Asian shares advanced on Tuesday, following U.S. stocks higher after they won back most of their sharp loss from last week. Investors appeared to have recovered some confidence after worries over how President Donald Trump's tariffs may be punishing the economy sent a shudder through Wall Street last week. At the same time, a stunningly weak U.S. jobs report Friday raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, potentially a plus for markets. This week's highlights will likely include earnings reports from The Walt Disney Co., McDonald's and Caterpillar, along with updates on U.S. business activity. In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% to 40,515.81, while the Kospi in South Korea jumped 1.4% to 3,192.57. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 24,799.67. The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.5% at 3,602.13. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.1% to 8,759.90, while the SET in Thailand also gained 1.1%. India's Sensex was the sole outlier, losing 0.5% on concerns over trade tensions with the United States, with the Trump administration insisting on cutbacks in oil purchases from Russia. India has indicated that it will continue buying oil from Russia, saying its relationship with Moscow was 'steady and time-tested,' and that its stance on securing its energy needs is guided by the availability of oil in the markets and prevailing global circumstances. 'Trump's threats of 'substantial' tariff hikes on account of imports of Russian crude pose a quagmire for India,' Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. 'Between exacerbated U.S.-imposed geo-economic headwinds and financial/macro setbacks from Russian oil advantages lost, pain will be hard to avert.' On Monday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.5% to 6,329.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.3%, or 585.06 points, to 44,173.64. The Nasdaq composite leaped 2% to 21,053.58. Idexx Laboratories helped Wall Street recover from its worst day since May, soaring 27.5% after the seller of veterinary instruments and other health care products reported a stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected. The pressure is on U.S. companies to deliver bigger profits after their stock prices shot to record after record recently. Reports from big U.S. companies have largely come in better than expected and could help steady a U.S. stock market that may have been due for some turbulence. A jump in stock prices from a low point in April had raised criticism that the broad market had become too expensive. Tyson Foods likewise delivered a bigger-than-expected profit for the latest quarter, and the company behind the Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farms brands rose 2.4%. They helped make up for a nearly 3% loss for Berkshire Hathaway after Warren Buffett's company reported a drop in profit for its latest quarter from a year earlier. The drop-off was due in part to the falling value of its investment in Kraft Heinz. American Eagle Outfitters jumped 23.6% after Trump weighed in on the debate surrounding the retailer's advertisements, which highlight actor Sydney Sweeney's great jeans. Some critics thought the reference to the blonde-haired and blue-eyed actor's 'great genes' may be extolling a narrow set of beauty standards. 'Go get 'em Sydney!' Trump said on his social media network. Wayfair climbed 12.7% after the retailer of furniture and home decor said accelerating growth helped it make more in profit and revenue during the spring than analysts expected. Tesla rose 2.2% after awarding CEO Elon Musk 96 million shares of restricted stock valued at approximately $29 billion. The move could alleviate worries that Musk may leave the company. In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 9 cents to $66.20 per barrel while Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 8 cents to $68.68 per barrel. The U.S. dollar was unchanged at 147.09 Japanese yen. The euro slipped to $1.1555 from $1.1573. ___ AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed.
New Statesman
32 minutes ago
- New Statesman
Kemi Badenoch's position on Israel is discrediting the Conservative Party
Photo byandWhen Kemi Badenoch became leader of the Conservative Party, she very sensibly aimed not to rush into early statements of detailed policy. Unfortunately, her appointment of Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary was its own statement. Following her unauthorised 2017 trip to Israel while secretary for international development, Patel has been a disgraced figure. While there, accompanied by the peer Stuart Polak of the Conservative Friends of Israel, she met the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu without UK government officials or the British ambassador. Afterwards, she advocated a change in UK policy which, in breach of long-established humanitarian practice, would have included the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in its aid delivery. This episode could not have been a starker example of impropriety. It merited her dismissal but Theresa May was too weak to wield the axe. Instead, Patel was allowed to resign. And yet, Badenoch saw fit to appoint her to the shadow cabinet. Patel is now in a position to perpetuate her views at a critical moment in world events. Badenoch has shown no indication of knowing anything about Israel and Palestine, and has not made any profound statements on this, the one foreign issue, other than Ukraine, that has dominated global news since she was elected. All she utters is uncritical support for Israel. The Conservative Party used to have a world-view. It supported enlightened international cooperation, and institutions such as the UN along with its accompanying treaties, rules and conventions. More broadly, it was the UK that pledged to support a homeland for the Jewish people, and a future for the Palestinians next door. To their shame, while successive governments have forever delayed implementing that commitment, the Israelis each and every day have violently stolen ever more Palestinian land. Palestine is the only populous legally undisputed land in the world not allowed to call itself a state. It does not belong to Israel, and Israel's determination to annex it does not mean it is disputed. The illegality of Israeli encroachment is cast-iron in international law, a belief that has been the policy of Conservative and Labour governments for decades. Badenoch, however, seems to share the view of those like Patel who do not believe in their own policy. They can never bring themselves to say explicitly that settlements are illegal. The charge sheet against Israel is growing every day: disproportionate force, indiscriminate bombing, mass displacement, food deprivation, the replacement of the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA with mercenaries, the killing of tens of Palestinians each day as they desperately scramble for food, state-backed support for settler terrorists, and the banning of journalists from Gaza. Badenoch and her front bench have done nothing to condemn any of it. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe [See also: Jonathan Sumption on Israel and Gaza: A question of intent] Amid all this, Priti Patel has refused in the Commons to condemn settler violence – all she would say was that settlers are a barrier to a two-state solution. And when extremist Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir were sanctioned in June, she declined in her response even to mention their names. The likes of Suella Braverman, meanwhile, have branded pro-Palestine demonstrations 'hate marches'. Contemptibly, any pro-Palestinian voice within the Conservative Party is almost systematically accused of anti-Semitism and put into its complaints procedure, which silences and bullies. And as Michael Gove increases his hold on appointments to the leader's office, what could be more warped than his recent recommendation that the IDF be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? It has now reached the point where Conservative comment has become so extreme it has discredited their entire foreign policy and is making them despised more widely. The party is increasingly becoming defined by its lack of humanity. The world is watching the extermination of an entire country. Palestine is being annihilated. Meanwhile the Conservative Party is covering itself in shame, and will stand no chance of re-election unless it states a clear policy based on international law, and promotes the UK's historic understanding of the region. This issue is and always has been about land. Israel's extremist government has only one objective, and that is to make all of Palestine theirs. All other talk, horrendous though the facts may be, is second to that. As leader, Kemi Badenoch could redeem herself speedily by stating loudly what all should be saying to Israel: 'Get out of Palestine, it isn't your country.' [See also: Keir Starmer alienates left and right on Gaza] Related
Telegraph
32 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Corbyn hits back at Rayner's war on allotments
Jeremy Corbyn has accused Angela Rayner of hammering a 'nail in the coffin' of community allotments after she said councils could sell them off to raise money. The former Labour leader criticised his former colleague after The Telegraph revealed she had agreed for eight allotments across England to be sold since last year's general election. Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Corbyn said the decision would 'fill many with deep dismay' and accused Ms Rayner of making 'the future of these precious spaces even more perilous'. Praising the Diggers, English Civil War dissidents who sought common ownership of land, he said: 'Is this government going to put the nail in the coffin of the joy of digging ground for potatoes on a cold, wet February Sunday afternoon?' Mr Corbyn, who has recently turned his back on Labour to launch a new party, is a keen horticulturist and uses an allotment near his north London home. He has said his favourite crop was marrows, and that time spent growing produce helped alleviate the stress of working in Westminster. Ms Rayner has changed the rules on local government assets to give cash-strapped councils more 'flexibility' to sell off land, including allotments and school playing fields. Some of the land, including a community allotment in Storrington, West Sussex, has been sold to developers to build new homes. Mr Corbyn said Labour should have more regard for the 'troubled history of land ownership, and the struggle over access by those who simply want to grow their own crops'. He wrote: 'Of course, social housing is desperately needed, but we need not sacrifice these vital green spaces to build it,' he wrote. 'We can build on ex-industrial land and take over empty properties. Even then, we should ensure social housing is accompanied by community gardens and adequate growing space.' Under a century-old law, the Housing Secretary is required to give permission for any to be sold off by local authorities. The list of eight allotments she has agreed to be sold were revealed in Parliament last month, and include sites in Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire. Mr Corbyn has said he does not use any weedkiller on his allotment, which can make the process of weeding it laborious, but believes that each gardener has their own 'philosophy'. 'I like a marrow,' he told his local newspaper earlier this year. 'You get a long marrow which is basically a courgette and cut it long ways; take out the seeds to plant again for next year, then fill it with chopped vegetables, onions, make some indentations in it and smother that in olive oil and bake it very slowly.' His intervention on allotment policy is one of the first criticisms of the Labour Government since he launched his new political outfit, which will be called 'Your Party' until supporters have voted on a name. The party supports nationalisation of public utilities and infrastructure, and will have the support of trade unions, he said. It is also opposed to the Israeli government's assault on Gaza, but other policy decisions will be taken after a vote of members later this year. Ms Rayner previously served in Mr Corbyn's top team as shadow education secretary, before winning the deputy leadership of the party in the year Sir Keir Starmer became the party leader. Her department said that councils should only sell off allotments 'where it is clearly necessary and offers value for money'. A spokesman added: 'We know how important allotments are for communities, and that is why strict criteria is in place to protect them, as well as school playing fields.' But the Conservatives said the policy was 'a kick in the teeth to local people who don't have access to their own gardens' and called for the Government to do more to protect green spaces. The loss of allotments makes us all poorer By Jeremy Corbyn News that Angela Rayner may approve allotment sales will fill many with deep dismay. Allotments have always been under threat from developers. Now, that threat seems to have government backing, which makes the future of these precious spaces even more perilous. Those advising government and local authorities should have some regard for the troubled history of land ownership, and the struggle over access by those who simply want to grow their own crops. The debate goes back to the English Civil War, when the King wanted to secure control of the land he had gained, while Cromwell claimed to speak for the farmers. In truth, it was the Diggers who were the real revolutionaries. They wanted land to be in common ownership. Despite the restoration of the monarchy, huge areas of land were known as the Commons and survived for almost another two centuries. That is, until the greed of big landowners won out once again. The Enclosure Acts, one of the most grotesque abuses of power by Parliament, took away the growing and grazing rights of the rural poor. A monstrous attack on working-class life, the enclosures represented the widespread theft of public land, sanctioned by a parliament that was dominated by landowners. The rural poor, left with nothing and facing starvation, were forced to migrate to industrial cities. It was in these rapidly growing industrial cities – notably in Birmingham – that allotments started to grow. Allotments, then, grew out of opposition to enclosures and the privatisation of common land. Allotments were regulated in the late 19th and 20th century and, even though numbers have since fallen, there are about 330,000 allotment plots. At least 100,000 people are on waiting lists. 'Once lost, they never return' Allotments have been crucial in times of national stress. Many came out of the Second World War. Indeed, many that were established in the First World War, such as the one I enjoy in north London, have survived to this day. Once lost, they never return. Their loss makes us all poorer, as we become more and more detached from how food is grown and how nature interacts with us. Allotments provide a vital space for community cohesion, biodiversity and social solidarity. These parcels of land, that cannot be individually fenced, provide growing space for many people. Many people have no access to their own garden, and an allotment gives them the opportunity to grow vegetables and fruit and observe nature. Allotments are particularly important for people who experience stress and mental health problems. I speak to many people who would love access to them for this very reason. Property developers have always had their eyes on these parcels of land. Together with local authorities, they construct various arguments for building over them. Instead of contemplating sales of these wonderful spaces, the Government should be encouraging the growth of allotments, or where there is insufficient land, the growth of community and school gardens. In my own borough of Islington, community gardens have played a vital role in bringing the community together and encouraging sustainable food production. Of course, social housing is desperately needed, but we need not sacrifice these vital green spaces to build it. We can build on ex-industrial land and take over empty properties. Even then, we should ensure social housing is accompanied by community gardens and adequate growing space. Is this Government going to put the nail in the coffin of the joy of digging ground for potatoes on a cold, wet February Sunday afternoon? The battle for the grass roots is on!
