Trump wraps up UK state visit with gratitude for his hosts while largely
sidestepping tough issues
[September 19, 2025]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE, JILL LAWLESS and WILL WEISSERT
AYLESBURY, England (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he
was “tremendously thankful” for the pageantry and splendor lavished on
him during his second state visit to the United Kingdom as he wrapped up
a trip that largely sidestepped major public disagreements over
difficult trade and geopolitical issues.
The mutual warmth, along with Trump's abundance of kind words bestowed
on the host country, suggested that an all-out charm offensive by the
royal family and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had its desired
effect, even though there was a notable lack of progress on some key
matters.
Trump and Starmer signed what both sides hailed as a historic agreement
on science and technology, and they held a roundtable with global
business leaders where they suggested the deal could mean significant
job gains. Among the topics tackled mostly in private talks between
Trump and Starmer were the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and U.S. tariff
rates on steel imported from Britain.
"The bond between our countries is like no other anywhere in the world,”
Trump said at a news conference at Chequers, the 16th-century manor
house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British
leaders. The U.S. and U.K., the American president said, have “done more
good for the planet than any other nation in history.”
Joining in the bonhomie, Starmer said that "time and time again, it is
British and American men and women, side by side, changing the path of
history and turning it towards our values, towards freedom, democracy
and the rule of law.”
The very end of the trip saw Trump’s helicopter carrying him from
Chequers to the airport at Stansted for his flight to Washington make an
unscheduled landing at a local airfield due to what the White House
called a “minor hydraulic issue.” No one was injured, and a backup
chopper completed the journey.
The Trump-Starmer mutual admiration followed King Charles III and Queen
Camilla's feting of Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle
on Wednesday with all the pomp the monarchy can muster, including the
biggest military honor guard ever assembled for a state visit.
Trump called the king and queen “two fantastic people" and said he was"
“tremendously thankful” and “grateful beyond words" for the hospitality.
Even high-profile points of dissent, such as Britain's impending move to
recognize a Palestinian state, stayed cordial. “I have a disagreement
with the prime minister on that score,” Trump said, adding that "it's
one of our few disagreement, actually.”
When Trump was asked about his lack of progress in brokering a deal to
end Moscow's war in Ukraine and he acknowledged that Russian President
Vladimir Putin has ”let me down," Starmer escalated the flattery a
notch. The prime minister said he and Trump had discussed how to
"decisively increase the pressure on Putin” and that Trump had “led the
way here.”
There was disagreement, too, over immigration policy.
Trump urged Britain to take a harder line and insisted he had made clear
to Starmer that when too many people enter illegally, it “destroys
countries from within." Still, when Starmer sharply criticized Hamas,
Trump reached over from his podium and slapped the prime minister on the
back in support.
‘Genuinely like each other’
At an earlier signing ceremony for the agreement meant to promote tech
investment, Starmer referred to the Republican president as “my friend,
our friend” and spoke of “leaders who respect each other and leaders who
genuinely like each other.”
The Trumps' final day in Britain began by bidding farewell to the king
and queen at Windsor Castle and flying by helicopter to Chequers for
more spectacle: a ceremonial honor guard with bagpipers, in a nod to
Trump's Scottish heritage, and a parachute demonstration. He also was
shown the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the
term “special relationship” for the bond between the allies.
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President Donald Trump gestures next to Britain's Prime Minister
Keir Starmer during a joint press conference at Chequers near
Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
It's something Trump’s British hosts have stressed repeatedly,
almost 250 years after that relationship endured a rocky start in
1776.
To coincide with the visit, Britain said U.S. companies had pledged
150 billion pounds ($204 billion) in investment in the U.K,
including 90 billion pounds ($122 billion) from investment firm
Blackstone in the next decade. Investment will also flow the other
way, including almost $30 billion by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the
U.S.
U.K. officials say the deal will bring thousands of jobs and
billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing
and nuclear energy. It includes a U.K. arm of Stargate, a
Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of
AI data centers around the U.K. American companies are announcing 31
billion pounds ($42 billion) in investment in the U.K.’s AI sector,
including $30 billion from Microsoft for products including
Britain’s largest supercomputer.
British officials said they have not agreed to scrap a digital
services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some
details of which have yet to be announced.
There was less movement on tariffs.
In May, Starmer and Trump said they had agreed to reduce U.S.
tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries. Talks on
lowering duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current
level of 25% have stalled even with a promise four months ago of a
settlement within weeks.
Trump was asked in a Fox News Channel interview, taped in London and
aired while he flew home, whether he would be willing to decrease
tariffs on U.K. steel. He was noncommittal, saying, “We're making a
lot of money.”
Few advancements on Ukraine while Epstein is largely avoided
The British government has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s
conduct in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinian civilians. Starmer
said the situation was “a humanitarian catastrophe” as he
acknowledged a divide with the president on recognizing a
Palestinian state.
While the prime minister has played a major part in European efforts
to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine, Trump's visit offered few
major advancements. Trump even insisted at one point, that the
conflict "doesn’t affect the U.S.”
The president has expressed frustration with Putin, but has not made
good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia. The king, in his
state banquet speech Wednesday night, offered Trump a gentle nudge,
noting “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies
stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure
peace.”
It seemed like questions about Jeffrey Epstein would dog Trump
throughout the trip, especially given that his visit began days
after Starmer fired Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Peter
Mandelson, over the envoy’s past friendship with the convicted sex
offender, who authorities say killed himself in 2019.
But Trump largely avoided the issue. Police did arrest four people
over a stunt that saw an image of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
projected on a tower at Windsor Castle.
Asked about Mandelson during the news conference, Trump said only
that he did not know the former ambassador, despite photographs
showing the pair together in the Oval Office.
___
Weissert reported from Washington. AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien
contributed to this report.
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