Trump warns Starmer ‘illegal migration will destroy the UK from within’: US president says PM should deploy military to stop Channel boats – and admits they disagree on Gaza in tense press conference

Donald Trump urged Keir Starmer to deploy the military to stop the Channel boats crisis breaking Britain today.

At a tense joint press conference, the US president warned that illegal immigration ‘destroys countries from within’ – as he highlighted his own success in securing America’s borders.

Mr Trump also bluntly stated that he ‘disagreed’ with Sir Keir’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state, urged the UK to do more drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, and pointedly hailed the ‘traditions of British liberty’.

The interventions came as the leaders wrapped up an historic State Visit with the PM praising the ‘renewed’ Special Relationship and his ‘friendship’ with Mr Trump. 

Speaking at Chequers, Sir Keir insisted that Vladimir Putin‘s strikes on Ukraine were ‘not the actions of someone who wants peace’. 

And in some of his toughest language, which will be welcomed by No10, Mr Trump said Putin had ‘let me down, he’s really let me down’. 

Sir Keir urged a new push for peace in Gaza – where the allies have taken sharply different approaches. But Mr Trump batted away the idea of recognising Palestine, which the UK could do at the United Nations as soon as tomorrow.

Mr Trump also delivered a veiled dig over American concerns about free speech in the UK, amid allegations of heavy-handed policing of online posts. 

Sir Keir responded later in the exchanges that Britain had enjoyed free speech for a ‘very very long time’. ‘It’s part of who we are as a country… we fought for it in the Second World War alongside each other.’ 

Asked about the Channel boats crisis, Mr Trump cited his own policies on the Mexican border: ‘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 added: ‘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.’

In other key moments at the press conference: 

• Mr Trump skated over questions about Lord Mandelson’s sacking today insisting he ‘didn’t know’ the ex-ambassador;
• Mr Trump said US TV host Jimmy Kimmel had been axed because of a lack of ‘talent’ rather than his jibe about Charlie Kirk;
• Sir Keir, who has previously said he is an atheist, was asked if Britain was a ‘Christian country’ and replied: “I was Christened, so that is my church, has been all my life.’ 

Sir Keir and Mr Trump have signed a huge tech investment deal at Chequers, with Mr Trump insisting it will help advance the ‘next technological revolution’.

He also complimented Sir Keir on the trade pact sealed with the US back in May, describing him as a ‘great negotiator’.

Mr Trump said ‘I don’t know him’ when asked whether he had sympathy with former US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson for being sacked over historic links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The US president 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.’

Mr Trump said wind power was a ‘very expensive joke’ and that the North Sea was ‘phenomenal’ after Sir Keir spoke of the importance of a mix of renewable energy.

The PM said he was ‘absolutely determined to ensure that the price and cost of energy comes down so the bills come down, both for individuals, for families with their household bills, but also for business’.

‘Because this is so important, the mix will include oil and gas for many years to come from the North Sea. We have been clear about that for some time, but we also need to mix that with renewables,’ Sir Keir said.

‘It’s the mix that’s really important. And the approach I’ve taken on this is the same approach that I say to many other things, a pragmatic approach.’

Mr Trump said: ‘I would like to say that we inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country. We had inflation the likes of which we’ve really never seen … and as you know, we brought fuel way down.

‘The price is way down. And we don’t do wind because wind is a disaster.

‘It’s a very expensive joke, frankly … so that was very important. Drill, baby, drill.

‘And 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 … and 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.’

Mr Trump said Sir Keir’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state was ‘one of our few disagreements’.

‘I have a disagreement with the Prime Minister on that score, one of our few disagreements actually,’ he told journalists at a press conference when asked about the British plan to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Mr Trump also insisted that ‘we have to have the hostages back immediately’.

He also accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of ‘putting the hostages up as bait’ and described this as ‘pretty brutal’.

Sir Keir, meanwhile, confirmed the pair had discussed his intention to recognise Palestinian statehood as they met in private on Thursday.

Recognition needs to be seen as ‘part of that overall package which hopefully takes us from the appalling situation we’re in now to the outcome of a safe and secure Israel, which we do not have, and a viable Palestinian state’, Sir Keir added.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has hosted a business reception in Downing Street for bosses at top US and UK financial firms, including BlackRock, Barclays and Blackstone in a bid to highlight Transatlantic economic cooperation.

As they signed the agreement earlier, Mr Trump said the relationship between the nations was an ‘unbreakable bond’ and ‘priceless’.

But there was an awkward moment as the president boasted that he had closed the US southern border with ‘zero’ people entering illegally. Sir Keir has been struggling to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

Speaking alongside Mr Trump at Chequers, Sir Keir said: ‘This historic second state visit is a moment to celebrate the unique bond between our two countries.

‘But today, we’ve gone far beyond that. We’ve renewed the special relationship for a new era.

‘The United Kingdom, the United States stand together today as first partners on defence, first partners in trade – with the groundbreaking deal we struck in May – and now, with a new agreement that we’ve just signed this afternoon, we’re confirming our status as the first partners in science and technology ready to define this century together just as we did the last.’

Mr Trump said of the two countries ‘we are forever joined, and we are forever friends’. 

At the business reception, Sir Keir told the president that the Special Relationship needed ‘leaders who respect each other, leaders who genuinely like each other’.

He said it was a ‘great pleasure for me personally’ to entertain Mr Trump.

‘You are among friends… there is so much to celebrate in the Special Relationship between our two countries,’ he said.

Mr Trump said he was ‘sincerely grateful’ for being invited to ‘this very special home, this beautiful place’.

‘And I was here a number of years ago, but somehow today, it looks even better, even more beautiful and even more historic. Melania and I are forever thankful to His Majesty King Charles the Third, and Her Majesty, Queen Camilla.

‘Had a fantastic evening last night, but the exquisite honour of a second official state visit, the first ever.

‘It’s the first time it’s ever been done, was really was an honour such great history, and to think it’s a first, it’s always nice to have a first, but the ties between our countries are priceless, and it’s really an inheritance, beautiful inheritance.

‘Today, we’re making those ties closer than ever before. We’ve done some things that financially are great for both countries, and we work together, and it keeps us together.

‘And I think it’s an unbreakable bond we have, regardless of what we’re doing today, I think it’s unbreakable.’

Earlier, the pair shook hands warmly on the steps of the PM’s country residence after Mr Trump pulled up in his armoured limousine known as ‘The Beast’. 

An honour guard of RAF personnel from nearby RAF Halton and two RAF bagpipers were on hand to greet him, while Sir Keir’s wife Lady Victoria also came to the door.

At a Royal banquet last night after a day of red-carpet treatment, the president described his second State Visit to the UK as ‘one of the highest honours of my life’. 

The King saw Mr Trump off from Windsor this morning, before he travelled by helicopter to Chequers. First Lady Melania remained with the Royals for a separate visit. 

The PM has gifted the US leader a bespoke ministerial red box styled to take back to the White House, as well as showing him items from the Churchill archives.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also had face-to-face talks at Chequers.

Hopes Sir Keir could deliver on his boast to have eliminated Mr Trump’s ‘beautiful’ tariffs on steel imports from Britain have also been dashed. No agreement is thought to have been reached on that element.

The fate of Lord Mandelson is particularly sensitive because of Mr Trump’s travails over his own relationship with Epstein.

Sir Keir has been facing Labour fury after publicly backing Lord Mandelson to stay on, before sacking him the following day.

In an interview on Monday the premier appeared to blame his staff for failing to brief him properly on the extent of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, whom the former ambassador once described as his ‘best pal’.

But he failed to explain why he had not sought more information after Lord Mandelson publicly warned there were more ‘very embarrassing’ details to emerge.