On the final day of his state visit to the UK, US President Donald Trump told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during bilateral talks between the leaders that he disagrees with his plan to recognise a Palestinian state.
Mr Trump was meeting Mr Starmer on Thursday at Chequers, the Prime Minister's 16th-century country residence about an hour's drive from London, discussing issues such as the Gaza war, Ukraine and the economy.
“I have a disagreement with the Prime Minister,” Mr Trump said at a press conference when asked about the forthcoming British announcement. “One of our few disagreements, actually.”
The Prime Minister is ready to recognise a Palestinian state this weekend at the UN General Assembly. He said the timing, set for after the US President's departure, had “nothing to do” with the state visit.
“I've discussed it with the President, as you would expect, among two leaders who respect each other and like each other and want to bring about a better solution in the best way that we can,” Mr Starmer said.
The Prime Minister previously said he planned to make the declaration ahead of next week's UN General Assembly in New York, unless Israel met certain conditions, including reaching a ceasefire and improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In an extended exchange on the issue of the Gaza conflict, Mr Starmer said the two leaders “absolutely agree” on the need to end the war, which is nearly two years old. Mr Starmer said the situation there is “intolerable”.
“The hostages have been held for a very, very long time, and they must be free, and we need aid to get into Gaza at speed,” Mr Starmer said. “So it's part of that overall focus which hopefully takes us from the situation right now to the outcome of a safe and secure Israel, which we do not have, and a viable Palestinian state.”
The discussions are taking place as the Israeli army intensifies its assault on Gaza city and after experts commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council said it is committing genocide in the enclave.
The US President said efforts need to focus on the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas. “Simply, I want the hostages released now, right now, not one, not two,” he said.
Mr Trump, who retook office in January with a promise to bring peace to the Middle East, has given Israel his full backing, even as the Palestinian death toll has exceeded 65,000. He has advanced the proposal that Palestinians should be pushed out of Gaza and the coastal enclave turned into a “Riviera”.
He even appeared to give at least tacit support for Israel's bombing of Hamas negotiators in Qatar, a crucial US ally and a mediator in the Gaza ceasefire talks. He said he opposes recognition of a Palestinian state, arguing it would be a “reward” for Hamas.
The group launched the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people. Mr Starmer said that Hamas should have no role in the future governing of Palestine.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump broke significant new ground when he revealed he is trying to bring Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan back into the US military fold.
“One of the biggest airbases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing. We’re trying to get it back, by the way,” he said. “We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back. But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
Earlier on Thursday, the pair signed a new tech partnership between the two countries, which the Prime Minister said will create 15,000 jobs and inject £250 billion in investment in artificial intelligence, nuclear energy and quantum computing. In remarks during the signing ceremony, Mr Trump called the ties between the nations “priceless”.
“I think it's an unbreakable bond we have,” he said. “This agreement will also help America and our British allies dominate the future of artificial intelligence,” he said. Mr Starmer said the UK-US relationship is “the very foundation of our security, our freedom and our prosperity”.
“The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal, it's irreplaceable and unbreakable,” Mr Trump said during a state dinner on Wednesday.
The first day was filled with royal pageantry, including gold-trimmed carriages, artillery salutes and a fly-past. Discussions on the second day covered the wars in Gaza and Ukraine – areas where the two leaders seem further apart.
Mr Trump said he thought the Ukraine war would be the “easiest” to resolve but said Vladimir Putin had “really let me down”. Mr Trump said he did not regret inviting Mr Putin to meet him in Alaska. He added: “Very simply, if the price of oil comes down, Putin is going to drop out. He’s going to have no choice, he’s going to drop out of that war.”
He repeated his refusal to increase sanctions on Russia after being shocked to hear European countries were still buying Russian oil. Mr Starmer said: “There are a number of European countries which are too reliant on energy from Russia."
“There are one or two countries, I think, that do need to look again at the question of energy," Mr Starmer said. "There’s no one silver bullet here, we do have to have a wider suite of sanctions, which we’ve put in place a number of times, working across Europe and with the United States.”
