
Donald Trump slams ‘invasion' of migrants ‘killing' Europe & tells leaders ‘get your act together' as he lands in UK
The MAGA prez
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President Donald Trump waves as he disembarks from Air Force One at Glasgow Prestwick Airport
Credit: Reuters
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He briefly spoke with the media on the tarmac before being escorted away by his armoured motorcade
Credit: Getty
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PM Sir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to tackle illegal immigration in the UK
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The latest batch of small boat migrants who have illegally landed are ready to be hosted in style to the tune of £5.5million a day
Credit: Chris Eades
He is expected to visit his
The president was greeted by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray before speaking to reporters.
But when asked about illegal immigration, Trump said a "horrible invasion" was taking place in Europe which needs to stop.
Don said: "On immigration, you better get your act together.
'You're not going to have Europe anymore, you've got to get your act together.
'As you know, last month we had nobody entering our country – nobody, [we] shut it down.'
He added: 'You've got to stop this horrible invasion that's happening to Europe.'
Trump, who made a crackdown on illegal immigration a major policy in his second term at the White House, boasted: "Last month we had nobody entering our country."
Most read in The Sun
Trump's comments come as Sir Keir Starmer faces enormous pressure to tackle illegal immigration in the UK.
In Labour's first six months in office, there was a
Migrants REFUSING to leave luxury taxpayer-funded hotels forcing Home Office crackdown
From election day to the end of 2024, 23,242 migrants arrived to enjoy bed and board on the taxpayer.
In 2025 — so far — another 21,117 have crossed, up a staggering 56 per cent compared to 2024 and a shocking 75 per cent higher than in 2023.
Labour has vowed to end the use of
But just days ago, Sir Keir sparked uproar by claiming there was plenty of spare housing for both illegal migrants and homeless Brits.
Meanwhile, a four-star hotel in London's flash financial district Canary Wharf was set up to receive
The latest batch of small boat migrants who have illegally landed are ready to be hosted in style to the tune of £5.5million a day.
Mr Trump also suggested he would be meeting Sir Keir 'tomorrow evening', although it is understood the pair will not meet until Monday.
He praised him ahead of a meeting between the two at one of his courses in the coming days, describing him as a 'good man'.
'I like your Prime Minister, he's slightly more liberal than I am – as you probably heard – but he's a good man. He got a trade deal done,' he said.
As well as the Prime Minister, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is also set to meet Trump.
She confirmed on X that she will come to Scotland on Sunday in a bid to hash out a trade deal between the US and Europe.
It comes after Trump slapped Europe with a whopping 30 per cent tariff set to hit the EU from August.
Read more on the Irish Sun
But he told journalists today there was a 'good 50/50 chance' of a deal being struck, adding that it would be the 'biggest deal of them all'.
The president and Sir Keir are expected to discuss potential changes to the UK-US trade deal which came into force last month.
After years watching Channel migrant crisis unfold Brits have just about snapped – and it's killing Starmer
Opinion by Jack Elsom
, Political Editor
CAST your mind back to Christmas 2018 when a few dozen migrants clambered into rickety dinghies off the French coast and headed for Britain.
Then-Home Secretary
You don't need me to tell you what happened next: over the next seven years 174,000 more would-be asylum seekers crossed the English Channel.
Billions of pounds of taxpayer cash have been ploughed into snapping up
The lives of vulnerable men, women and children have been tragically lost.
And families feeling the pinch have watched agog as successive governments throw good money after bad.
Yesterday's revelation that thousands of asylum seekers have been gambling with money from
But in many ways what is more depressing is that nobody is even really surprised any more.
Read the full piece here.

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Irish Independent
41 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Trump plans to meet with Putin as soon as next week
Trump then plans to meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the newspaper reported, adding that the plans were disclosed in a call with European leaders on Wednesday. Trump on Wednesday said his special envoy Steve Witkoff had made "great progress" in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Washington continued its preparations to impose secondary sanctions on Friday. The meeting came two days before a deadline set by Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions. Trump has been increasingly frustrated with Putin over the lack of progress towards peace and has threatened to impose heavy tariffs on countries that buy Russian exports. A White House official said that while the meeting had gone well and Moscow was eager to continue engaging with the United States, secondary sanctions that Trump has threatened against countries doing business with Russia were still expected to be implemented on Friday. No details were provided. "My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come," he added. A Kremlin aide earlier on Wednesday said Witkoff held "useful and constructive" talks with Putin on Wednesday. The two met for around three hours on a last-minute mission to seek a breakthrough in the 3-1/2-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the two sides had exchanged "signals" on the Ukraine issue and discussed the possibility of developing strategic cooperation between Moscow and Washington, but declined to give more details until Witkoff had reported back to Trump. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he believed pressure had worked on Russia and Moscow was now more amenable to a ceasefire. 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Putin is unlikely to bow to Trump's sanctions ultimatum because he believes he is winning the war and his military goals take precedence over his desire to improve relations with the U.S., three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters. The Russian sources told Reuters that Putin was sceptical that yet more U.S. sanctions would have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3-1/2 years of war. The Russian leader does not want to anger Trump, and he realises that he may be spurning a chance to improve relations with Washington and the West, but his war goals are more important to him, two of the sources said. Putin's conditions for peace include a legally binding pledge that NATO will not expand eastwards, Ukrainian neutrality, protection for Russian speakers, and acceptance of Russia's territorial gains in the war, Russian sources have said. Zelenskiy has said Ukraine would never recognise Russia's sovereignty over its conquered regions and that Kyiv retains the sovereign right to decide whether it wants to join NATO. Witkoff, a real estate billionaire, had no diplomatic experience before joining Trump's team in January, but has been simultaneously tasked with seeking ceasefires in the Ukraine and Gaza wars, as well as negotiating in the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme.

Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘It knocked my self-belief': Adi Roche reflects on ‘shockingly dirty' presidential campaign
Former presidential candidate Adi Roche has said those running for the Áras 'need to be strong', citing her experience in a 'shockingly dirty campaign' which she said continues to haunt her. Ms Roche, who is founder and chief executive of Chernobyl Children International , ran as a Labour Party candidate in the 1997 presidential election. However, her bid was derailed by a 'politically motivated' smear campaign, she later said. Speaking to The Irish Times on Wednesday at a commemoration event of the Hiroshima bombing , Ms Roche said she is still 'haunted' by some of what happened during that time. 'It often penetrates my dreams because it knocked my confidence and my self-belief,' said the 70-year-old. READ MORE Ms Roche said prospective candidates 'need to think very carefully' before going forward. 'I had always felt, naively, that it was above and beyond the political arena, that it was a statesman's role of diplomacy, and what I learned was that it actually was the most political position of all. 'When the gloves were off, it was a shockingly dirty campaign, so I would say to anyone considering going forward, to really check with yourself how resilient you are and can be,' she said. Describing it as a 'smear campaign,' it emerged during the campaign that Ms Roche's brother, Dónal de Róiste , was dismissed from the Defence Forces in 1969. He was never officially told the reason for his forced retirement, nor did he receive a court martial, though it was suggested to him that his dismissal was because of his alleged association with republican militants. A review of his case completed in 2022 found that Mr de Róiste's departure was made 'on foot of a fundamentally flawed and unfair process and was not in accordance with the law'. He subsequently received an apology from then minister for defence Simon Coveney. [ Ex-Army lieutenant Dónal de Róiste: 'I can walk with my head high' Opens in new window ] While Fianna Fáil-backed candidate Mary McAleese went on to win the election, Ms Roche finished fourth out of five candidates. She subsequently disappeared back into her humanitarian work, she said, which helped at the time. However, it was the State apology to her brother that 'meant the world to us'. 'It restored my brother's good name and that of our family, and how dreadfully it had been used against me in my campaign,' she said. She ruled out another potential run for Áras an Uachtaráin, saying she is 'too busy' in her humanitarian work, 'between the war in Ukraine, Chernobyl and also Gaza ... there's too much going on.' Ms Roche said the next president will have a hard act to follow. 'Michael D Higgins is such a champion for the rights of our nation, for the rights of our people, and against injustice. He always has his finger on the pulse of every issue,' she said, and hopes the next president will be one of a 'similar moral compass'. Fianna Fáil and the presidency Meanwhile, asked if Fianna Fáil has approached or had meetings with any potential candidates, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the party 'will make its decision closer the end of the month and we will take soundings over the month'. He said the party had not approached businessman and former dancer Michael Flatley. Labour backs Connolly, and Flatley jumps the shark Listen | 50:26 Speaking at a Daniel O'Connell commemoration event in Caherdaniel, Co Kerry, Mr Martin said: 'I believe the presidency doesn't necessarily belong to any one party. I believe it belongs to the people of Ireland and it's important that the person who is elected who can bring honour, and distinction to that office ... Fianna Fáil certainly will be making a contribution to that debate.' Asked about his thoughts on MMA fighter Conor McGregor's petition to change the Constitution so people can run without needing the support of four local authorities or 20 Oireachtas members, Mr Martin said, 'we will continue to adhere to the Constitution'. 'I'm not sure he [McGregor] has asked anybody – what happened in previous presidential elections. People went to county councils, some got nominations from the requisite number of county councils, so the Constitution creates a pathway there for people to secure a nomination through that route.'


RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
US pharma firms will be 'damaged' by tariffs
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said President Donald Trump should keep in mind that US pharmaceutical firms based in Ireland will be "damaged and undermined" if he goes through with his latest sectoral tariffs threats. Mr Trump said the 15% baseline agreed in the EU-US tariff deal last month would only apply to the pharmaceutical sector for "one year, one-and-a-half years maximum". The US President also said "it's [the pharmaceutical tariff] going to go to 150%, and then it's going to go to 250% because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country," before specifically referencing companies based in China and Ireland. It follows the European Commission's spokesperson on trade Olof Gill insisting that the 15% rate is an "insurance policy". His comment comes amid a section 232 investigation into tariffs on pharmaceutical that is under way taking place in the US. The probe could result in Mr Trump, rather than the US Congress, attempting to unilaterally increase pharmaceutical tariffs above the 15% rate. He alluded to before his deal with the EU by telling reporters the pharmaceutical sector is "special". However, responding to Mr Trump's suggestion that pharmaceutical tariffs could surge far above the agreed 15% rate in the future, Mr Martin said this should not be the case. He added that Mr Trump should keep in mind that US pharmaceutical firms based in Ireland will be "damaged and undermined" if any tariff increases occur. "I've had some more recent conversations in light of the negotiations between the EU and US. "There are certain realities applying here, and the overall point I would make is that tariffs are not good for the world economy, they're not good for people, workers or consumers. "And in the context of pharmaceutical companies, the US has gained increasing share of European pharmaceutical market and indeed of Asian markets because of their presence in the markets. "The companies are global powers now, really globally strong companies, because of their presence in Europe, Ireland being one of the countries that they're present in," Mr Martin said. He added: "Ireland has added value and strength to those companies, and I would say to the [US] President he needs to factor that into the equation. "Those companies will be damaged and undermined if such policies were to bear fruit. "But we understand, and I've been in touch with the president of the commission last week and Commissioner Šefčovič, that the 15% is what's being negotiated, has been negotiated, between the US and EU." The presence of multi-national companies and international pharmaceutical firms in Ireland is a key component of the current Irish economy, directly impacting on thousands of jobs across the country.