Can his golf course ‘further' US-UK relations? Trump will use meeting with prime minister to try
Now he's getting the chance to prove it.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is meeting Monday with Trump at a golf property owned by the president's family near Turnberry in southwestern Scotland — then later traveling to Abderdeen, on the country's northeast coast, where there's another Trump golf course and a third is opening soon.
During his first term in 2019, Trump posted of his Turnberry property, 'Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!'
Starmer is not a golfer, but toggling between Trump's Scottish courses shows the outsized influence the president puts on properties bearing his name — and on golf's ability to shape geopolitics.
While China initially responded to Trump's tariff threats by retaliating with high import taxes of its own on U.S. goods but has since begun negotiating easing trade tensions, Starmer and his country have taken a far softer approach.
He's gone out of his way to work with Trump, flattering the president repeatedly during a February visit to the White House, and teaming up to announce a joint trade framework on tariffs for some key products in May.
Starmer and Trump then signed a trade agreement during the G7 summit in Canada that freed the U.K.'s aerospace sector from U.S. tariffs and used quotas to reduce them on auto-related industries from 25% to 10% while increasing the amount of U.S. beef it pledged to import.
The prime minister's office says Monday's meeting will also touch on Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, and that it hopes to welcome the Trump administration working with officials in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire.
Starmer plans to stress the urgent need to cease the fighting and work to end starvation and other suffering occurring amid increasingly desperate circumstances in Gaza.
Also on the agenda, according to Starmer's office, are efforts to promote a possible peace deal to end fighting in Russia's war with Ukraine — particularly efforts at forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table in the next 50 days.
Protesters, meanwhile, have planned a demonstration in Balmedie, near Trump's existing course, after demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday to decry the president's visit.
Discussions with Starmer follow Trump meeting Sunday with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry course. They announced a trade framework that will put 15% tariffs on most goods from both countries — though many major details remain pending.
On Tuesday, Trump will be at the site of his new course near Aberdeen for an official ribbon cutting. It opens to the public on Aug. 13 and tee times are already for sale — with the course betting that a presidential visit can help boost sales.
There are still lingering U.S.-Britain trade issues that need fine-tuning after the previous agreements, including the tariff rates Washington imposes on steel imported from the U.K.
Even as some trade details linger and both leaders grapple with increasingly difficult choices in Gaza and Ukraine, however, Starmer's attempts to stay on Trump's good side appears to be working.
'The U.K. is very well-protected. You know why? Because I like them — that's their ultimate protection,' Trump said during the G7.
Also likely to improve Trump's mood is the fact that the U.S. ran an $11.4 billion trade surplus with Britain last year, meaning it exported more to the U.K. than it imported. Census Bureau figures this year indicate that the surplus could grow.
The president has for months railed against yawning U.S. trade deficits with key allies and sees tariffs as a way to try and close them in hurry.
Trump is set to return to Britain in September for an unprecedented second state visit. Trump will be hosted then by King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle.
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Winnipeg Free Press
14 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
From Laos to Brazil, Trump's tariffs leave a lot of losers. But even the winners will pay a price
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Toronto Sun
14 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
3 people die in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
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Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Russia's Defence Ministry said air defences intercepted or destroyed 112 drones across eight Russian regions and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed one person, acting governor Yuri Slyusar said. Further from the front line, a woman was killed and two other people wounded in a drone strike in the Penza region, according to regional governor Oleg Melnichenko. In the Samara region, falling drone debris sparked a fire that killed an elderly resident, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. In these and other regions, governors reported damage to industrial facilities. 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CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
Israeli hostage families hold emergency protest after Gaza militants release videos showing emaciated captives
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Eyal Zamir said on Friday that fighting will continue 'without rest' in Gaza if there is no hostage deal. 'I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we will succeed in reaching a partial deal for the release of our captives. If not, the fighting will continue without rest,' he said. 'He has simply been forgotten there' On Friday, the armed wing of Hamas released an undated video showing 24-year-old David – who was taken hostage at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023 – being held in a narrow cell. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters initially cautioned against using imagery from the video, but later said that David's family had authorized the publication of a still image. On Saturday, Hamas released a new video featuring David which appears to be a longer version of the video released on Friday. A similar propaganda video was published by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday showing Braslavski also in a frail state. Islamic Jihad said it was the last video taken of the hostage before the group lost contact in July with the militants holding him. 'People talk a lot about what is happening in Gaza, about hunger, and I want to ask everyone who spoke about hunger: Did you see our Rom? He is not receiving food, he is not receiving medicine. He has simply been forgotten there,' Braslavski's family said in a statement. 'We ask that Witkoff see this video. And we make an urgent plea to President Trump: Bring our son home,' the family said. Earlier this week, a UN-backed food security agency warned that 'the worst case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, its starkest alert yet as Israel faces growing international pressure to allow more food into the territory. Gaza's health ministry said Saturday that seven people had died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, including one child, bringing the total death toll from starvation since the conflict began in 2023 to 169. In addition, at least 39 people were killed and more than 800 injured in the same period while waiting for aid in different parts of the territory, the ministry added. By Billy Stockwell, Eugenia Yosef, Ibrahim Dahman, Mitchell McCluskey, Dana Karni, Catherine Nicholls and Lauren Izso, CNN
