In a Scottish golfing holiday that has swiftly given way to a multi-sided international summit, Keir Starmer has held a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump which has spanned from the UK-US trading relationship to immigration policy and international conflicts.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds had tempered expectations of immediate steel tariff progress ahead of the meeting, saying that there remains “more to do”.
Trump described an “unparalleled” relationship with Starmer, who he hailed as the Prime Minister who “got it done” after successive leaders failed to get an agreement over the line.
The Prime Minister said: “Together we got a deal done that has not been able to be done. It was a deal that was very good for both parties.”
When asked about why the UK has ended up with a stronger trade deal with the EU, Trump said he has a particularly special relationship with Britain as his mother was born in Scotland.
Trump said that he has a “very big plan on pharmaceuticals” with the UK, following news this morning that EU pharmaceutical exports to the US will face a 15 per cent tariff.
An energetic meeting
He praised the UK’s commitment to nuclear energy, with particular reference to the Rolls-Royce small modular reactor (SMR) contract.
“I know you have Rolls-Royce nuclear plants. That sounds pretty good, right? I love that. What a great brand that is.”
But the President was not universally supportive of UK energy policy, criticising Aberdeen’s windmills as “some of the ugliest you’ve ever seen”.
Starmer came to the defence of Sadiq Khan after Trump slammed the London Mayor as a “nasty person” who has done a “terrible job”, saying: “Well he’s a friend of mine.”
Elsewhere, Trump made a joking reference to the new Online Safety Act, which has generated controversy and boosted VPN use in the UK – already racking up more than 349,000 signatures on a petition calling for its repeal at the time of writing.
In reference to his own social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said: “Will you please uncensor my site?” Starmer replied that “no one is getting censored”.
All for Scotland?
Asked about special trade carve-outs for Scotland, the US President said: “I have great love for Scotland. My mother loved Scotland, and she loved the Queen.”
Pressed on the issue – with the particular example of Scotch whisky – Trump said: “I assume that when we do our trade deal overall, a lot of it comes to Scotland, I hope. Maybe all of it should go to Scotland.”
Starmer cut Trump off to say: “It’s a very good deal for the whole United Kingdom. And we’ve already achieved great things under the deal.”
Trump doubled down to say that “a lot of it is going to Scotland, I do know that”.
“I was very particular. This is part of the world that I want to see thrive. It’s going to thrive.”
President Trump is set to meet Scottish First Minister John Swinney later today.
All eyes on geopolitics
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza – which Starmer described as “intolerable” – was front and centre at the meeting.
In response to widespread images of starvation, Trump rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that there is “no starvation in Gaza”.
Trump also ratcheted up pressure on Vladimir Putin to engage seriously in peace talks with Ukraine, announcing a new deadline of “ten or twelve days, from today”.
He threatened to impose secondary tariffs on Russia if no agreement is reached, adding: “I don’t want to do that to Russia, I love the Russian people.”