Photo by Donald Trump left Windsor Castle on Thursday and headed straight to Chequers, where Keir Starmer was waiting to begin talks. Trump had just wrapped up his second formal state visit, but this wasn’t about dinners and speeches.
At Chequers, both men sat down with their delegations from the U.S. and U.K. to hash out trade, tech, and global security issues.
The main issue on the table was updating the May 2025 U.S.-U.K. economic prosperity deal, which both sides now want to tweak. The U.K. specifically wants the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum gone.
Trump seemed open to it earlier in the week when speaking on Air Force One. “They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit,” he said. “We’ve made a deal, and it’s a great deal, and I’m into helping them. They’d like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we’ll talk to them.”
Trump discusses Putin, war in Ukraine, and a possible ceasefire
While talks focused on trade, Trump and Starmer also addressed the Ukraine war. At a press conference at Chequers, Trump said, “The Russia situation, I hope we’re going to have some good news for you coming up.” He added, “Millions of people have died in that war, millions of souls… They’re being killed, and I feel I have an obligation to get it settled for that reason.”
Trump then turned the heat on Vladimir Putin, saying, “He’s let me down. He’s really let me down.” This came as a surprise, considering Trump had repeatedly claimed during his 2024 campaign that he could end the war in a single day.
He admitted on Thursday that ending the conflict has been harder than expected. “I’m very honored to tell you that we’ve solved seven wars, seven wars, wars that were unsolvable, wars that couldn’t be negotiated or done,” he said. “The one that I thought would be easiest would be because of my relationship with President Putin, but he’s let me down.”
USA Today later checked that “seven wars” comment and found five confirmed ceasefires or agreements, while also pointing out that not everyone credited the White House for them.
UK announces $204B in foreign investment as talks continue
During the visit, the U.K. government announced £150 billion ($204 billion) in foreign investment. The deals span across AI, civil nuclear, financial services, and energy. The announcements dropped while Trump and Starmer were still in talks at Chequers.
Duncan Edwards, head of BritishAmerican Business, called it a big moment for the U.K. “From a U.K. government perspective, they couldn’t really have asked for a better slew of announcements coming over the last three days with the civil nuclear, financial services, and all the AI announcements,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
But Edwards warned that words aren’t cash. “Promised dollars” weren’t the same as “actual dollars,” he said, adding that it’s still unclear if the investment will actually show up.
The two leaders met after a formal state dinner the night before at Windsor Castle, where Trump addressed British and American officials, business leaders, and royals. He called the visit “one of the highest honors of my life” and joked he hoped he’d be the only president to ever get two state visits.
King Charles returned the favor by complimenting Trump’s “personal commitment to finding solutions to some of the world’s most intractable conflicts.”
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