In a high-stakes moment during a carefully orchestrated state visit, Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer appeared almost unified at a detailed press conference yesterday.
Standing together in Chequers’ grand hall, they adeptly sidestepped any challenging topics – of which there were several.
They sought to bat away the only question on Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious paedophile who has dogged both their tenures so far.
But, despite the general bonhomie, their differences on Palestine, renewable energy and migration did come to the fore.
PALESTINE
Britain’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state was one of a few ‘disagreements’, Mr Trump revealed.
The PM plans to recognise Palestinian statehood ahead of a UN general assembly in New York next week.
However, Mr. Trump noted his dissent, stating, ‘I have a disagreement with the Prime Minister on that matter, one of our few disagreements, actually.’
When pressed by a US reporter, Sir Keir clarified he wasn’t postponing an announcement on recognition until after Mr. Trump’s UK departure, asserting: ‘I made my position clear at the end of July, so the timing is unrelated to this state visit.’
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hold a press conference at Chequers on September 18, 2025
During the conference, Mr Trump confessed he had been ‘really let down’ by Vladimir Putin when discussing the war in Ukraine
ENERGY
Highlighting another point of contention, Mr. Trump referred to wind power as a ‘very expensive joke’ while praising the North Sea as a ‘phenomenal’ resource.
He urged Sir Keir, who is halting new oil and gas licenses in the region, to leverage the ‘great asset’, claiming his ‘drill, baby, drill’ policy had reduced US energy prices.
But Sir Keir spoke of the importance of mixing the use of oil and gas with renewable energy, and claimed he was ‘absolutely determined to ensure that the price and cost of energy comes down’ for households and businesses.
UKRAINE
Mr Trump admitted he had been ‘really let down’ by Vladimir Putin, having thought the Ukraine war would have been ‘the easiest’ to settle once he resumed office.
The US President – who previously claimed he could end the conflict in a day – said he still felt he had an ‘obligation’ to bring it to a close. He also repeated his plea for Nato allies to impose tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil, saying that if the oil price drops, Putin will pull out of the war.
Sir Keir did not disagree, saying: ‘There are a number of European countries which are too reliant on energy from Russia, the UK actually, obviously, has almost got nothing at all, but we do need to bear down and work with our European counterparts here.’
FREE SPEECH
The killing of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week was ‘shocking’ to everyone who believes in free speech, Sir Keir said, adding the fatal shooting ‘sent shockwaves through the world’.
The Prime Minister revealed he contacted Mr Trump immediately afterwards to offer his sympathies. ‘I reached out straight away to the President, because I understood how impactful it would be on him and his family.’
Despite US tech firms claiming they face censorship under Britain’s Online Safety Act, Sir Keir insisted: ‘Free speech is one of the founding values of the United Kingdom, and we protect it jealously and fiercely and always will.’
But he added: ‘I draw a limit between free speech and the speech of those that want to peddle paedophilia and suicide [on] social media to children.’
FAITH
Sir Keir suggested he is a Christian despite previously calling himself an atheist. Asked if Britain is still a Christian country, the Prime Minister replied: ‘I was christened, so that is my church, has been all my life.
And that is wired into our informal constitution.’ He went on: ‘Of course, we celebrate many other faiths as well and I’m really proud that we’re able to do so as a country.’
However, in a 2021 interview he admitted: ‘I am not of faith, I don’t believe in God – but I can see the power of faith and the way it brings people together.’
His wife Lady Starmer is Jewish and he has previously spoken about how they keep Jewish traditions in their family home but their two children are not being brought up in the faith.
Picutred: King Charles and Queen Camilla stand with US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the state banquet at Windsor
STATE VISIT
The President lavished praise on the Royal Family and the Prime Minister as he hailed the ‘exquisite honour’ of a second state visit.
Describing the ties between the US and Britain as ‘priceless’, Mr Trump said the countries were now ‘closer than ever before’. He referred to King Charles and Queen Camilla as ‘two fantastic people’, and called the British Isles ‘beautiful’ and ‘magnificent’.
The UK and US were ‘forever friends and will always be friends’, he added, going on to say: ‘This enduring connection is why I was thrilled that the UK was the very first country with which we made an historic trade deal.’
Referring to Sir Keir, he added: ‘He’s a tough negotiator.’
TRADE
The transatlantic trade deal agreed earlier this year was better for the US than the UK, Mr Trump claimed.
In his opening remarks at the Chequers press conference, he praised Sir Keir, saying: ‘He is a great negotiator who will extend our unparalleled security alliance into the realm of economic security for the first time, and I look forward to finalising it very soon.
He added that he was ‘thrilled’ that the UK was the first country his administration did a trade deal with, after imposing hefty tariffs on most of the world. The Prime Minister said the new tech agreement signed during Mr Trump’s state visit ‘has the power to change lives’.
As Mr Trump put his name on the deal, he joked with his treasury secretary Scott Bessent and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, asking: ‘Should I sign this Howard? Scott? If the deal’s no good I’m blaming you.’
DEFENCE
The defence relationship between the UK and America is the ‘deepest’ in the world, Sir Keir claimed.
‘Our warriors train together, and they fight together,’ he said. The Prime Minister told how everything from fast jets to Orka-class submarines were built by the two countries’ industries, and pledged to remove barriers to close working on new technologies.
Mr Trump praised Sir Keir for having committed to increasing the UK’s defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, up from just 2.3 per cent last year.
‘I want to congratulate the United Kingdom on making the vital commitment to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence at the Nato summit this year. We’ve worked together very closely in so many ways,’ the President said.
AFGHANISTAN
The US wants to regain possession of a major military base in Afghanistan, Mr Trump revealed. He suggested he was negotiating over the return of Bagram Airfield with the Taliban, which seized the base as Joe Biden pulled US forces out of the country in 2021.
‘One of the biggest air bases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing. We’re trying to get it back, by the way,’ Mr Trump told reporters.
‘We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back. But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.’
