Donald Trump: Five key takeaways from press conference with Sir Keir Starmer - from North Sea to immigration
The US President seemed to be on his best behaviour during his visit to the Prime Minister’s country residence.
Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer held a press conference in the south of England on Thursday afternoon.
The US president and UK Prime Minister answered questions from reporters at Chequers - the PM’s country residence in Buckinghamshire.
They spoke about a whole range of topics, from North Sea oil to immigration, from Lord Peter Mandelson to Palestine.
Here are the five key takeaways from their press conference.
North Sea oil
The US president said the UK should make use of North Sea oil, which he called “a great asset”.
Mr Trump said: “You have a great asset here we spoke about, it’s called the North Sea. The North Sea oil is phenomenal. And I hope, because I love this country.
“You know, my mother was born in Scotland. In the Hebrides, Stornoway. That’s serious Scotland.
“I want this country to do well. And you have great assets that you’re going to start using, I believe, under this Prime Minister, thank you.”
Illegal immigration
Mr Trump suggested Sir Keir should use the military to tackle illegal immigration.
Discussing his own actions in the US, Mr Trump said: “What I saw happening, with millions of people pouring into our country, I couldn’t stand to watch it, and we’ve done a great job.”
He said “the last three months we had zero – from millions of people a year ago, we had zero people enter our country illegally”.
Mr Trump continued: “I think your situation is very similar. You have people coming in and I told the Prime Minister I would stop it, and it doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use.
“It destroys countries from within and we’re actually now removing a lot of the people that came into our country.”
Peter Mandelson
The US president denied knowing former US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson - despite meeting him last week and with photos of the pair shaking hands.
Lord Mandelson was sacked last week following revelations about his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
When asked if he had sympathy with Lord Mandelson, Mr Trump said: “I don’t know him actually, I had heard that, and I think maybe the Prime Minister would be better speaking of that. It was a choice that he made and I don’t know.”
Speaking directly to Sir Keir, Mr Trump said: “What is your answer to that?”
The Prime Minister replied: “It’s very straightforward. Some information came to light last week which wasn’t available when he was appointed, and I made a decision about it, and that’s very clear.”
Palestine
The US president said he disagreed with Sir Keir’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state.
US Government figures had already said they thought the move was rewarding Hamas.
When asked about it at Chequers, Mr Trump said: “I have a disagreement with the Prime Minister on that score, one of our few disagreements actually.”
Sir Keir confirmed the pair had discussed his intention to recognise Palestinian statehood as they met in private on Thursday.
Russia
Mr Trump said he had been “let down” by Russian president Vladimir Putin amid stalled peace efforts following weeks of Russian attacks on Ukraine.
The US president said: “He has let me down. I mean, he’s killing many people and he’s losing more people than he’s, you know, than he’s killing. I mean, frankly, Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers. But, yeah, he’s let me down.”
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