EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday used his luxury golf course on Scotland's southeastern 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 tone when reporters questioned him about images of emaciated children from Gaza.
Asked if he agreed with Israel 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 any where 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 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."
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 of 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.”
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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London and Michelle L. Price and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
