Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer‘s sitdown in front of the world’s media came in the ballroom of the President’s Turnberry golf course – arranged to resemble the White House‘s Oval Office.
Mr Trump, unsurprisingly, did most of the talking as he freewheeled from subject to subject. Here we take a look at what he said.
Sadiq Khan
Mr Trump did not hold back in his criticism of Labour’s mayor of London.
When asked if he would head to the capital during his planned state visit in September, he said: ‘I’m not a fan of your mayor. I think he’s done a terrible job, the Mayor of London… a nasty person.’
Sir Keir intervened to say: ‘He’s a friend of mine, actually.’ But an undeterred Mr Trump went on to say: ‘I think he’s done a terrible job. But I would certainly visit London.’
Wind turbines
Mr Trump branded wind turbines ‘ugly monsters’ as he backed North Sea oil and gas during the press conference.
He has long been outspoken about his dislike of wind power and strongly opposed an offshore development which is visible from his Aberdeenshire golf course.
He said: ‘Wind is the most expensive form of energy and it destroys the beauty of your fields, your plains and your waterways. Wind needs massive subsidy, and you are paying in Scotland and in the UK, and all over the place, massive subsidies to have these ugly monsters all over the place.’
He urged the UK to exploit North Sea oil and gas.
The Royals
The President heaped praise on the Royal Family as ‘really great people’.
Mr Trump, who is known to admire the monarchy, said the UK is ‘very lucky’ to have the royals, before adding: ‘You could have people that weren’t great people.’
Despite Mr Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ slogan aimed at ramping up fossil fuel extraction, he applauded the King’s environmentalism.
‘King Charles is an environmentalist, I will tell you. I say that in a positive way, not a negative way. Every time I’ve met with him he talked about the environment and how important it is and I’m all for it – I think that’s great.’
Starmer’s wife
Before the ballroom engagement, Sir Keir and Mr Trump embraced on the Turnberry steps as the Prime Minister arrived with his wife, Lady Starmer.
In slightly farcical scenes, an off-the-cuff to-and-fro with the gathered media was partly drowned out by the bagpiper.
But the President did make himself heard when he said he wanted to make the PM ‘happy’, and then, referring to Lady Starmer, said: ‘She’s a respected person all over the United States. I don’t know what he’s (Sir Keir) doing but she’s very respected, as respected as him.
‘I don’t want to say more, I’ll get myself in trouble. But she’s very, she’s a great woman and is very highly respected.’
Farms
The President appeared to criticise Labour’s inheritance tax on farmers.
While he did not directly mention Sir Keir’s reforms to agricultural property relief, he said farmers in the US had been driven to suicide by taxes and noted that he had acted to remove levies on farmland estates, adding: ‘I love our farmers.’
‘They don’t make a lot of money but it’s a way of life and they love that dirt,’ he said. Defending the policy, Sir Keir said he was trying to increase farmers’ income.
Epstein and Maxwell
Donald Trump said he’d ‘never had the privilege’ of going to Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous island, where sordid underage sex parties took place, attended by the rich and powerful.
Epstein, he said, was ‘always a very controversial guy’ but he hit back at claims he had sent a suggestive birthday note to the paedophile financier, featuring the outline of a naked woman.
‘I never went to the island [Little St James in the US Virgin Islands],’ Mr Trump said. ‘And Bill Clinton went there, supposedly, 28 times. I never went to the island… I never had the privilege. I did turn it down.’
Mr Clinton has said he ‘knows nothing’ about Epstein’s crimes, while his aides have denied he ever went to Little St James.
Asked about the clamour to release the Epstein files in the possession of the FBI and in which he is said to be named, the President said: ‘It’s a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion.’
Of the reported birthday note, he said: ‘I’m not a drawing person. I don’t do drawings of women, that I can tell you.’
Mr Trump also said he had not been asked to pardon Epstein madam Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite currently serving 20 years in a US prison over child sex trafficking offences.
Trade with the UK
Mr Trump suggested that the UK will know ‘pretty soon’ what tariffs will be placed on steel.
He said the US wants to ‘make our own steel’ but did not say whether levies on UK exports will remain at the current 25 per cent, be cut or even increased.
He also hinted that he may not impose heavy tariffs on British pharmaceuticals because he said he could do a deal with the UK. He said he felt a ‘lot better’ working with Britain than other countries.
He added: ‘With the relationship we have, you would not use that as a cudgel. You wouldn’t be using it as a block.’
Free speech
Sir Keir defended the Online Safety Act following questions about whether it censored online content. The Prime Minister said that the laws were there to protect children rather than curbing freedom of speech.
Last week, the law changed to require websites to check users are over 18 before allowing them to access ‘harmful’ material such as pornography or suicide material, with heavy fines for those that do not comply.
Told that Sir Keir now has the power to censor the President’s Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said: ‘If you censor me, you’re making a mistake.’
Sir Keir replied: ‘We’re not censoring anyone. We’ve got some measures which are there to protect children, in particular, from sites like suicide sites.’ He added: ‘I don’t see that as a free speech issue – I see that as child protection.’
Love of Scotland
Mr Trump spoke of his ‘great love’ for Scotland, as he vowed to return to the country ‘once a year’ for a visit. Mr Trump’s mother, Mary Anne, was born in the Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis.
He said: ‘It gives me a feeling, you know it’s different, you go to another country, you have no relationship to it… but it’s different when your mother was born here.’
Mr Trump was asked about Scottish trade with the US, and whether there could be a different deal for products such as whisky. He replied: ‘I was very particular, this is a part of the world I want to see thrive.’
