Donald Trump said he is working on a trade deal with the UK and suggested that Britain could escape tariffs if the countries secure one, but the allies failed to agree on US security guarantees for Ukraine.
During a warm joint press conference at the White House on Thursday, the US president said his UK counterpart Sir Keir Starmer was “working very hard” to persuade him not to impose tariffs on Britain.
“I’ll tell you that he earned whatever the hell they pay him over there, but he tried,” Trump said of Starmer, describing him as a “very tough negotiator”. “We could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary. We’ll see.”
Trump’s suggestion that the UK could avoid tariffs came a day after he threatened the EU with 25 per cent duties on its exports, and hours after he said he would press ahead with tariffs on Mexico and Canada and boost his planned levy on China.
Trump said the UK was a “very different place” from the EU.
Starmer confirmed that the UK and US on Thursday decided “to begin work on a new economic deal with advanced technology at its core”.
British officials said the two sides were aiming for a phased economic and tech agreement that stopped short of a full free trade agreement.
Trump said vice-president JD Vance and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent were among the senior officials in the US administration working on the potential deal. “I think we’re going to have a deal . . . as quickly as it can be done,” he said.
However, attempts to strike US-UK trade deals have foundered in the past over British refusals to accept certain American farm products. The idea of such a trade pact was a central argument for pro-Brexit campaigners almost a decade ago.
While a full-blown trade deal with the US faces prodigious hurdles, it would be a “real bonus” if the UK achieves the more modest goal of avoiding the imposition of Trump tariffs, said Paul Dales, UK economist at Capital Economics.
The meeting between Trump and Starmer, which was focused on securing a peace deal for the war in Ukraine, came days after French President Emmanuel Macron visited the White House for similar discussions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet Trump in Washington on Friday, with signs of a thawing in their relationship. When asked about previously referring to Zelenskyy as a “dictator”, Trump said: “Did I say that?”
European leaders have urged Trump to provide military cover for any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. But on Thursday, Trump said the US would not need to provide such a “backstop” since Americans working on a proposed minerals deal with Kyiv would serve as a deterrent against possible Russian attacks.
“We are a backstop because we’ll be over there, we’ll be working in the country,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“That’s a great thing economically for them,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of people over there. I just don’t think you’re going to have a problem.”
Trump said the US would “certainly try and get as much” Russian-held Ukrainian land “as we can back” and that he and Starmer would discuss this during their private meeting. “They’ve fought long and hard on the land,” Trump said.
The US president, who accepted an invitation from King Charles to visit the monarch in Scotland and the prospect of a second state visit to the UK, lavished praise on Starmer, calling him a “special man”.
“I’ve always cared about the British,” Trump said. “They don’t need much help, they can take care of themselves.”
But the US president added a qualification that is likely to be seized on by Starmer: “If they need help, I’ll always be with the British, OK? But they don’t need help.”
Trump told Starmer, who will host a meeting with European leaders from 18 countries in London on Sunday to discuss European defence, that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will honour any peace deal struck with Ukraine.
“I think he’ll keep his word,” Trump said. “I’ve spoken to him, I’ve known him for a long time now.” He added: “I don’t believe he’s going to violate his word. I think the deal is going to hold.”
When asked if he trusts Putin, Trump said he had a “trust and verify” approach to the Russian president.
During the White House meeting, Trump also unexpectedly endorsed Britain’s deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius under a long-term agreement to secure the future of the UK-US military base at Diego Garcia for up to 140 years.
“We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon, and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well,” Trump said.
While the conversation between Trump and Starmer was mostly cordial, Vance earlier said the UK had been responsible for “infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British . . . but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens”.
Starmer pushed back, saying the UK had free speech “for a very, very long time” and adding that it would “last for a very, very long time”.
Starmer began his meeting with Trump by handing him a letter from King Charles, in which the monarch invited the US president to Scotland.
The visit is intended to prepare the ground for what Starmer called “a truly historic” state visit to the UK — the first time a US president had been twice awarded the honour.
Asked whether he would take up the offer to visit Scotland, Trump said “the answer is yes”, adding that the king was “a beautiful man”.
Additional reporting by Steff Chávez in Washington