TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Welcomes Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom to Trump Turnberry, 7.28.25
[Video]
Note: [The first four minutes of audio were not well captured. ?AI noise reduction only partially solved the issue. It is transcribed as best possible. The transcription is clear after that point]
President Trump: Hello, everybody. How are you?
Question: Doing well. How are you?
Trump: [Inaudible]
Question: How are you feeling about it?
Trump: Great. Biggest one ever made. Yeah.
Question: What do you hope to accomplish today?
Trump: How are you? Nice to see you both.
Keir Starmer: Hi. Hi.
Trump: I've heard a lot [Inaudible] nice to see you. [Inaudible] making a deal. I don't know if [Inaudible] Yeah. And that right there, [Inaudible]
Starmer: Yeah.
Trump: That's a very famous [Inaudible] You know what they call this [Inaudible] probably what happened, I think --
Starmer: They go through the gate and they [Inaudible] people [Inaudible]
Trump: [Inaudible] like [Inaudible] So yeah. [Inaudible] it was massive. [Inaudible] 15, you had to come right back, OK? It's a long flight. It's very far away. [Inaudible] so I want [Inaudible] if you look at it, [Inaudible] --
Starmer: Yeah. But can you actually [Inaudible]
Trump: You can't [Inaudible] because there are birds that fly around in it, in the millions. There were millions. In fact, I said, [Inaudible] the bird flies. They just keep circling it. And there are millions of birds [Inaudible] you wouldn't last long. So it's almost [Inaudible] minutes.
Starmer: Just to get to that?
Trump: It's so good.
Starmer: Yeah.
Trump: It looks like it -- it looks like it's close but it's not close. [Inaudible]
Starmer: It's fantastic.
Trump: [Inaudible] and this is [Inaudible] and it's [Inaudible]
Starmer: [Inaudible]
Trump: [Inaudible] you're going to see that. Yeah, that's very good. [Inaudible] and that's [Inaudible]
Victoria Starmer: Yeah.
Trump: That's the main [Inaudible] and the people are [Inaudible]
Starmer: [Inaudible]
Trump: [Inaudible]
Starmer: Yeah. Such a beautiful place [Inaudible]
Trump: [Inaudible] biggest [Inaudible] see that [Inaudible]
Victoria Starmer: Yeah.
Trump: [Inaudible] with a little --
Victoria Starmer: OK.
Trump: [Inaudible] we're going to have to get rid of the [Inaudible]
Victoria Starmer: So nice.
Trump: [Inaudible]
Starmer: [Inaudible]
Trump: [Inaudible]
Starmer: Yeah. That's right. We've got dinner tonight.
Trump: [Inaudible]
Unidentified: [Inaudible]
Trump: Excuse me?
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: Great day, a great deal was made with UK. The Prime Minister did a great job. You know, they've been trying to make that deal for 12 years and he got it done. So everybody -- everybody respects it. It's going to be a lot of jobs for here and great for America. And you know, in terms of even the relationship, our relationship is unparalleled, but it keeps it even closer, you know, when you're able to have a good trade deal.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: I'm not a big whiskey drinker, but maybe I should be. [Inaudible] but we're going to take a look at it. We'll take a look. We want to make the prime minister happy. We want to make -- by the way, your first lady, I would say, first lady. She's a respected person all over the United States. I don't know what he's doing, but she's very respected as respected, as respected as him. I don't want to say more. I'll get myself in trouble.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: Yeah. Well, we've, as you know, given a lot of money to Gaza for food and everything else. A lot of that money is stolen by Hamas and a lot of the food is stolen, but we're very much involved and I think it's one of the main reasons for our meeting today.
Starmer: Yeah, yeah, we're going to be discussing it today.
Trump: We'll be talking about Gaza.
Question: [Inaudible]
Trump: Well, we want to get it going, but as you know, with Cambodia, we just did a -- they just announced a very big --
Starmer: Yeah.
Trump: A very big Ð
Starmer: [Inaudible]
Trump: Yeah, beyond that, this peace. That was going to be a very bad war and so we're honored, we got involved and it's essentially settled. I think they're going to be settling it today. So it went for a few days. That was going to go in for years. That could have gone on for years. Millions of people could have been killed. We ended the war and we're very happy about it.
Question: The prime minister says that recognizing the Palestinian state would be a concrete step towards a lasting peace. Do you agree with his position?
Trump: Well, I'm not going to take a position. I don't mind him taking a position. I'm looking for getting people fed right now. For me, that's the number one position because you have a lot of starving people. You have people that -- you know, the United States recently, just a couple of weeks ago, we gave $60 million. That's a lot of money. No other nation gave money. I know the prime minister would if he knew about it and he really knows about it now because we're going to be discussing it. But we gave $60 million, nobody said even, thank you. You know, thanks. Somebody should say thank you. But other nations are going to have to step up. When I spoke to Ursula yesterday, she said that the European nations are going to step up very substantially too.
Question: What's the importance of free speech today?
Trump: Well, free speech is very important. I don't know if you're referring to any place in particular, perhaps they are, but --
Starmer: We've had free speech for a very, very long time here. So we're very proud about that and we protect it.
Question: [Inaudible] how would you deal with it? What's your advice on dealing with small boats [Inaudible]
Trump: What did he say?
Question: Small boats --
Starmer: It's about the boats coming over the channel. So we're taking a lot of action to stop people coming over the channel who shouldn't be here, stopping them coming in the first place --
Trump: Well, immigration is a big -- a big factor. And I think, frankly, if they're coming from other countries and you don't know who they are and -- are they coming from prisons? We have them where they came in from prisons. We're moving them all out. We had a border last -- last June, this recent, you know, last month we had zero people come into the country, zero, other than coming through legal means. If you're stopping immigration and stopping the wrong people, I give -- my hats are off to you. You're doing a, not a good thing, you're doing a fantastic thing. So I know nothing about the boats. But if the boats are loaded up with bad people, and they usually are, because you know, other countries don't send their best. They send people that they don't want and they're not stupid people and they send the people that they don't want. And I've heard that you've taken a much stronger stance on it.
Starmer: Yeah, we've done a lot of work stopping them coming. We just signed an agreement to return them. And we've returned 35,000, in fact, out of the first year of this [Inaudible] of people who shouldn't be in this country. So we're very pleased that we're getting on with returning people who've got no right to be here.
Trump: That's great. As somebody that loves this -- I love this country. My mother was born in -- as you know, my mother was born in Scotland and it's an incredible place, a beautiful place. And if that be the case, I congratulate you. That's exactly -- because you know, Europe is going to -- is a much different place than it was just five years ago, 10 years ago. And they've got to get their act together. If they don't, you're not going to have Europe anymore, as you know it and you can't do that. This is a magnificent part of the world and you cannot ruin it. You cannot let people come in here illegally. And what happens is there'll be murderers, they'll be drug dealers, there'll be all sorts of things that other countries don't want. And they send them to you and they send them to us and you've got to stop them. And I hear that you've taken a very strong stand on immigration and taking a strong stand on immigration is imperative.
Question: Prime Minister Netanyahu said there's no starvation in Gaza. Do you [Inaudible]
Trump: I don't know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry, but we're giving a lot of money and a lot of food and other nations are now stepping up. I know that this nation is, right here.
Starmer: It's a humanitarian crisis.
Trump: Right.
Starmer: It's an absolute catastrophe and nobody -- nobody wants to see that. And I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screens. So we've got to get to that ceasefire and thank you, Mr. President, for leading on that and also, to just get more and more aid in. And again, America has done a lot on this. A lot of countries have done a lot. We're now working with Jordan on getting direct aid drops in, but this is a desperate situation.
Question: Are you going to -- Do you think Israel has done all it can to avoid civilian casualties there?
Trump: Well, I think nobody's done anything great over there. The whole place is a mess. It'll get straightened out, but it's a mess. They have to get food -- in the meantime, get food and safety right now. And ultimately, look, Hamas did a horrible thing and they paid a big price, but Hamas did a horrible thing. But I always said, when you get down to the last 20 or 10 -- they're down to 20. We got a lot of hostages out and you helped us by the way.
Starmer: Yeah, yeah.
Trump: But we got a lot of hostages out over the last six months that I've been in. I've been in office for six months now and these hostages have been -- I mean, many of them have come to the Oval Office and they've thanked me so profusely. I said, you don't have to thank me. I did what I have to do. But I always said when you get down to the final 20, they won't release them because that's like their shield, very unfair. And so something's going to have to be done. And they were really unwilling to talk, but I've said that, you'll get down to the final 10 or 20. It turns out to be 20. I thought that would be the number. I said, they're not going to be dealing with us. And you know, many of the hostages are now dead. You know that. And parents come up to me -- a woman came up to me two weeks ago. She just wants her son back and I said, how is he doing? My son is dead, sir, but he's with them and we want the body. She wanted the body of this young boy, of her young, beautiful son just as much as if he were alive. It was just as important. There was no difference. And it's a very -- it's a tragic situation, frankly. But we got a lot out and now possibly the fight will have to be a little bit different, but they have totally changed now. They don't want to give up hostages, very unfair. You have 20 living people. In this case, living. You have many dead people too, that they --
Starmer: [Inaudible] a long time as well.
Trump: Yeah. They have 20 living people and I told Israel, I told Bibi that you're going to have to now maybe do it a different way.
Question: Do you think that ceasefire is even possible, Mr. President?
Trump: Oh, yeah, ceasefire as possible, but you have to -- you have to get it -- you have to end it. You're talking about with Israel's -- you're talking about there? Because we have many cease fires going on. The whole world is -- if I weren't around, you'd have right now six major wars going on. India would be fighting with Pakistan. You see what we just did yesterday with two nations that we're trading with. And during the trade, I said I'm not going to do any trade deal unless you guys settle your differences and we got it settled in 24 hours. I mean, they just announced it was settled, which was a tremendous thing, but Serbia, Kosovo is another one. We have many hotspots that were at war. I think a very big one was India and Pakistan because that's -- you're talking about two nuclear nations. That was a very big one. And we get help from the UK. The Prime Minister has helped. We have cases where we specifically need the help because somebody comes from here, that you're aware of -- and you know, when you come from a country you can do things. And I call up the prime minister and all of a sudden, he's able to do things. Other -- true also with other presidents and prime ministers. But we've done -- nobody's ever done what we've done. We have six different major -- look at -- if you take a look at Rwanda and the Congo, Republic of the Congo, they've been fighting for 31 years. Eight million people dead. It was going on. Nobody could go to that part of Africa. They were being killed. To even walk there you're being killed with machetes and it was a violent situation and I was able to -- they like Trump. They wanted to make a trade deal with Trump. They wanted us to take their rare earth. They want to give us their rare earth. And I got to know the leader of the Congo. I got to know both of them indirectly. And I called them. I said let's end the war. I don't want anything until you end the war and we ended the war. As you know, the foreign ministers came up two weeks ago and the leaders are going to be coming very shortly to Washington, of Rwanda and Congo. I mean, that's another one that we did. So we've done a lot. It's an honor to do it. It's not hard for me to do it and I use -- not in all cases, but I use a combination of knowing them a little bit, or in some cases, knowing them a lot. I knew, you know, the leaders of Pakistan and India, I know them very well. And the -- you know, they're in the midst of a trade deal and yet they're talking about nuclear weapons. I say, this is crazy. So I said I'm not doing a trade deal with you guys and they want the trade deal, they need it. I'm not doing a trade deal with you if you're going to have war and that's a war that spreads to other countries. You'll get nuclear dust. We'll all get nuclear dust. When they start using nuclear weapons, that stuff blows all over the place and really bad things happen. So maybe we're being a little selfish when we want to save wars too. But we stopped a lot of wars and it's a great honor to have done it. Thank you all very much. And we're going to -- we're going to be talking inside about -- very much about Gaza and the humanitarian aspects of Gaza, I think, right?
Starmer: Yeah.
Question: Mr. President, what about Russia and Ukraine. You're talking about ceasefires. What's the latest?
Trump: I would have said five times we would have had a deal. I've spoken to President Putin a lot. I always got along with him very well, but five times and every time -- four times maybe. But we've had discussions. You and I have had discussions. We thought we had that settled numerous times and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city, like Kyiv, and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever. You have bodies lying all over the street. And I say that's not the way to do it. So we'll see what happens with that. I'm very disappointed. I'm disappointed in President Putin. I'm very disappointed in him. So we're going to have to look and I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number because I think I already know the answer, what's going to happen. OK. Thank you very much, everybody. We'll see you later.
Victoria Starmer: Thank you.
Unidentified: All right.
Transcript courtesy of CQ Factbase.