Trump talks Gaza, Ukraine and his golf course, in meeting with UK's
prime minister
[July 29, 2025]
By WILL WEISSERT
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday used his
luxury golf course on Scotland's coast to host British Prime Minister
Keir Starmer, mixing critical discussions on the deepening food crisis
in Gaza, Russia's war in Ukraine and tariff rates with boasts about the
property's opulence.
The two increasingly close leaders seemed relaxed and happy together,
with Trump often treating the sit-down as if he were back in the Oval
Office, while also not missing the chance to talk up his Turnberry
course — which enriches his family business.
When the prime minister and his wife, Victoria, arrived at Trump
Turnberry, the Republican president spent several minutes chatting with
them and proudly pointing out key sites around the property.
Starmer came determined to press the U.S. to take a larger role in
helping quell what he called a “desperate situation” amid increasing
reports of starvation in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war rages.
Trump at first was focused on complaining about the U.S. not having
gotten enough credit for previously providing food aid. But he shifted
his tone when reporters questioned him about images of emaciated
children from Gaza.
Asked if he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
remarks about concerns of mass starvation in Gaza being overstated, he
replied, “I don’t know. I mean, based on television, I would say not
particularly because those children look very hungry.”
Starmer immediately was far more forceful: “I think people in Britain
are revolted at seeing what they are seeing on their screens.”
The president later shifted his tone dramatically and suggested a major
recalibration of U.S. policy toward the territory, suggesting that
Israel “has a lot of responsibility” for what’s happening.
“I think Israel can do a lot,” Trump said. He added that when next
speaking to Netanyahu, he’d insist, “I want them to make sure they get
the food,” noting that the U.S. and others are giving money and food to
Gaza and that Netanyahu has “got to, sort of, like, run it.”
“I want him to make sure they get the food,” Trump said.
Trump has two Scottish golf courses and is opening a third
After their meeting, Starmer flew with Trump aboard Air Force One to
outside Aberdeen, where the president's family has a second golf course
and is holding a ribbon-cutting for a third one on Tuesday. Trump will
be its first official player, though the new course opens to the public
on Aug. 13 and could see a boost in sales because of the president's
promoting it.
Demonstrators protested in Balmedie, a village close to the golf course.
One of them, Jean Abbot, a 67-year-old retired legal professional,
accused Trump of being in “the process of dismantling Western
civilization.”
“He is trashing what two generations of our people have fought wars to
preserve, namely democracy and freedom and the rule of law,” Abbott
said.
That followed protests across Scotland on Saturday decrying the
president’s visit as he was out golfing.
So much attention on his golf courses allows Trump to try to make good
on a post from his first term in 2019, when he wrote of Turnberry, “Very
proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also,
furthers U.K. relationship!”
Starmer is famously not a golfer but willingly played along with the
outsized influence the president puts on properties bearing his name —
and on golf's ability to shape geopolitics.
The president talked at length Monday about how he spent money lavishly
to upgrade the historic Turnberry course after he bought it in 2014,
declaring, “If you take a look at the windows in the various dining
rooms, they’re magnificent.”
Starmer said he was excited to “see this amazing golf course” while
promising Trump, “I’ll invite you to a football ground at some stage.”
[to top of second column]
|
President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Britain's Prime
Minister Keir Starmer during a meeting at the Trump Turnberry golf
course in Turnberry, Scotland Monday, July 28, 2025. (AP
Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Ukraine also discussed
Britain, along with France and Germany, has criticized Israel for
“withholding essential humanitarian assistance” in Gaza as hunger
spreads. Over the weekend, Starmer said Britain will take part in
efforts led by Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza after Israel
temporarily eased restrictions.
Starmer also is under pressure from his Labour Party lawmakers to
follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state, a move Israel and
the U.S. have previously condemned.
But Trump said Monday of the prime minister potentially doing so, “I
don’t mind him taking a position.” Starmer has said the U.K.
supports statehood for the Palestinians but it must be “part of a
wider plan” for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian
conflict.
Trump and Starmer also talked about a possible peace deal to end
fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine, particularly trying to force
Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table within a
50-day window Trump set earlier this month.
The president said he wants to announce a new window to halt the
fighting for just 10 or 12 days, saying there is “no reason in
waiting.”
Like being back at the White House
As the leaders took more than an hour of reporters' questions, their
sit-down at times played out like Trump’s meetings with foreign
leaders in the Oval Office. There, he fields multiple questions
while his guest mostly sits quietly — even though this meeting took
place in Starmer's U.K.
Trump batted away persistent inquiries about the Jeffrey Epstein
case and recapped his push for the Federal Reserve to lower interest
rates. He also repeated his longstanding grudge against wind farms —
which he sued unsuccessfully to get removed from near his golf
course in the Aberdeen area.
At another point, Trump criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan by saying
“he’s done a terrible job” and he’s a “nasty person.”
Starmer jumped in with a chuckle: “He’s a friend of mine, actually.”
As they have in the past, the two men also went out of their way to
praise one another. Starmer gushed, “Because we focus on what’s
important for our two countries, we get along very well.”
They also talked about refining a bilateral trade agreement they
announced last month, though there are still sticking points around
steel imports.
The meeting followed Trump sitting down after golfing on Sunday with
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. They announced a
trade framework that will put 15% tariffs on most goods from both
countries, though many major details remain pending.
The leader of Scotland, meanwhile, has urged Trump to lift the
current 10% tariff on Scotch whisky. First Minister John Swinney
said the spirit’s “uniqueness” justified an exemption.
Trump was noncommittal, though, smiling as he said, “I'm not a big
whiskey drinker. But maybe I should be when I'm over here.”
___
Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London and Michelle L. Price
and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
