{"id":164899,"date":"2025-09-18T21:07:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/putin-gaza-tariffs-and-mandelson-key-details-from-trump-starmer-press-conference-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T21:07:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:07:01","slug":"putin-gaza-tariffs-and-mandelson-key-details-from-trump-starmer-press-conference-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/putin-gaza-tariffs-and-mandelson-key-details-from-trump-starmer-press-conference-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin, Gaza, tariffs and Mandelson: key details from Trump-Starmer press conference – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two leaders skirted around areas of potential conflict but there was still plenty of news and startling information
Given an hour to speak freely in front of the world\u2019s media, Donald Trump<\/a> is always likely to spring a surprise or two.
His joint press conference with Keir Starmer<\/a> at Chequers on Thursday was largely a disciplined performance, skirting around several potential topics of conflict. But it was still full of news, telling details, and startling information and opinions. <\/p>\n

Here are some of the most important, and some you might have missed.
The US president switches between<\/a> blaming Russia and Ukraine for the war between the two countries, but 90 minutes with Starmer appeared to have focused the president\u2019s attention on the role of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
\u201cI spoke to President Putin about Ukraine, it was the apple of his eye,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe would have never done what he did, except that he didn\u2019t respect the leadership of the United States.\u201d
The president does not appear to want to increase sanctions on Russia however, seeking instead to criticise other countries for buying Russian oil.
Downing Street\u2019s worries that the UK\u2019s impending recognition<\/a> of Palestinian statehood would cause a divide between the two leaders proved unfounded. Trump admitted the two leaders disagreed over the issue, but added it was \u201cone of our few disagreements\u201d.
In his efforts to placate the president however, Starmer entirely avoided talking about the bloodshed and starvation that Israel is causing in Gaza.
\u201cHamas \u2026 don\u2019t want two-state solution,\u201d the prime minister said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want peace, they don\u2019t want the ceasefire.\u201d His comments earned a pat on the back from Trump.
Allies of Trump have criticised<\/a> European online safety rules, saying they unfairly target American technology companies. Starmer however believes he has found an argument that will resonate with the president.
\u201cFree speech is one of the founding values of the United Kingdom \u2026 [but] I draw a limit between free speech and the speech of those that want to peddle paedophilia and suicide social media to children,\u201d he said.
Days before Starmer travelled to Washington DC earlier this year, the prime minister announced a huge cut<\/a> in international aid to pay for an increase in defence spending.
The decision prompted outrage from international aid agencies and the resignation<\/a> of one of his cabinet ministers. But it does appear to have bought him some favour in the White House.
\u201cI want to congratulate the United Kingdom on making the vital commitment to spend 5% of GDP on defence at the Nato summit this year,\u201d Trump said.
\u201cHe\u2019s a tough negotiator,\u201d Trump said about Starmer when talking about the trade deal, before turning to the prime minister to add: \u201cI think it was a better deal for you than us, but these are minor details.\u201d
But there was no mention on Thursday of reducing tariffs on British steel exports, something which the deal promised but now appears to have been abandoned<\/a>. Trump\u2019s commitment to tariffs in general remains strong.
\u201cThe United States, as you probably have heard, is doing better than it has ever done in terms of business and investment,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of it\u2019s because of tariffs.\u201d
Bagram was the US\u2019s largest military base in Afghanistan until it left the country in 2021. Now Trump appears to want it back thanks to its proximity to China, though his comments suggest he is trying to negotiate over its control rather than contemplating a reinvasion.
\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep Bagram \u2013 one of the biggest airbases in the world,\u201d the president said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get it back, by the way. OK, that could be a little breaking news. We\u2019re trying to get it back, because they need things from us.
\u201cOne of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it\u2019s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.\u201d
The prime minister is an atheist who observes some Jewish traditions because of his wife.
But asked by GB News whether Britain was still a Christian country, he said on Thursday: \u201cI was christened. So that is my church \u2013 has been all my life.\u201d
In May Peter Mandelson stood over Trump\u2019s left shoulder as the president signed the UK-US trade agreement. He left with a souvenir<\/a> from the president himself. \u201cPeter,\u201d it read. \u201cGreat job!\u201d
Some British officials were worried therefore that Starmer\u2019s decision to sack Mandelson<\/a> over his friendship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could cause a rift with the president, not least because Trump had his own well-publicised friendship with Epstein.
Asked about Mandelson on Thursday however, the president suffered an apparent attack of amnesia. \u201cI don\u2019t know him,\u201d Trump replied, before handing over to the prime minister.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The two leaders skirted around areas of potential conflict but there was still plenty of news and startling informationGiven an hour to speak freely in front of the world\u2019s media, Donald Trump is always likely to spring a surprise or two.His joint press conference with Keir Starmer at Chequers on Thursday was largely a disciplined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}