Trump, Starmer to meet in Scotland, with trade and Gaza on agenda
Donald Trump
will host British prime minister
Keir Starmer
at his golf resort in western Scotland on Monday for talks expected to range from their recent trade deal to the worsening hunger crisis in
Gaza
, the two governments said.
Mr Trump, boosted by the
announcement of a trade agreement with the European Union late
on Sunday, said he expected Mr Starmer would also be pleased.
'The prime minister of the UK, while he's not involved in this, will be very happy because you know, there's a certain unity that's been brought there, too,' Mr Trump said. 'He's going to be very happy to see what we did.'
Mr Starmer had hoped to negotiate a drop in
US steel and aluminum tariffs
as part of the discussions, but Mr Trump on Sunday ruled out any changes in the 50 per cent duties for the EU and has said the trade deal with Britain has been 'concluded.'
The two men are expected to travel from Mr Trump's golf resort in Turnberry, on Scotland's west coast, to a second sprawling estate owned by Mr Trump in the east, near Aberdeen.
Mr Starmer was heading to Scotland from Switzerland, where England won the Women's European Championship final on Sunday.
Casting a shadow over their visit has been the deepening crisis in the war-torn Gaza enclave, where images of
starving Palestinians have alarmed the world.
Mr Starmer has recalled his ministers from their summer recess for a cabinet meeting, a UK government source said on Sunday, most likely to discuss the situation in Gaza as pressure grows at home and abroad to recognise a Palestinian state.
The British leader on Friday said his country would recognise a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action.
Mr Trump on Friday dismissed French president Emmanuel Macron's plan to recognise a Palestinian state, an intention that also drew strong condemnation from
Israel,
after similar moves from Spain, Norway and Ireland last year.
Mr Trump said he understood Mr Starmer wanted to discuss Israel, adding that while the US would increase its aid to Gaza, it wanted others to join the effort.
Ukraine
will also be on the agenda.
Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, with aid groups warning of mass hunger among Gaza's 2.2 million people.
The war
began on October 7th, 2023, when
Hamas
-led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israel's offensive has killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials. It has reduced much of the enclave to ruins and displaced nearly the entire population. - Reuters
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025
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