Trump says he knows ‘nothing’ about small boats – but claims most people arriving on them probably ‘bad people’ – UK politics live | Politics
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- July 28, 2025
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Trump says he knows ‘nothing’ about small boats – but claims most people arriving on them probably ‘bad people’
Christopher Hope, political editor of GB News, asked earlier if Donald Trump had any advice for the UK on the small boats crisis. (See 12.49pm.)
Trump did not seem to recognise the term, and Keir Starmer said this was a reference to boats coming across the channel. He said the UK government was taking “a lot of action” to stop people coming in the first place.
Then Trump added:
Immigration is a big factor.
And I think, frankly, if they’re coming from other countries and you don’t know who they are – are they coming from prisons? We have them where they came in from prisons. We’re moving them all out.
Last month we had zero people come into the country, zero, other than coming through legal means.
If you’re stopping immigration and stopping the wrong people, my hats are off to you. You’re doing, not a good thing, you’re doing a fantastic thing.
So I know nothing about the boats.
But if the boats are loaded up with bad people – and they usually are, because other countries don’t send their best, they send people that they don’t want, they’re not stupid people, they send the people that they don’t want.
And I’ve heard that you’ve taken a much stronger stance on this.
Starmer agreed with this, saying the government had done “a lot of work” to stop people coming. He said 35,000 people have been returned over the past year.
Here are the US government figures for illegal crossings into the country in June. They are not zero, but they are at a record low.
Trump also does not seem to understand why people end up trying to enter the UK illegally to seek asylum. It is not because they are “bad people” sent by countries trying to get rid of them; it is generally the opposite – ordinary people trying to get away from terrible regimes.
Key events
Trump says US to be involved in setting up ‘food centres’ in Gaza
The Trump/Starmer Q&A lasted for about 70 minutes. It was 95% Donald Trump. Keir Starmer was mostly there as a stage prop, although he did manage to intervene just enough to salvage his dignity and to show that he is willing to disagee with Trump on some points.
In his opening remarks Trump said the US would be be setting up food centres in Gaza. He said:
We’re going to set up food centres, and we’re going to do it in conjunction with some very good people, and we’re going to supply funds …
Other nations are joining us. [To Starmer] I know your nation’s joining us, and we have all of the European nations joining us, and others also called, and they want to be helpful.
So we’re going to set up food centres where people can walk in and no boundaries. We’re not going to have fences.
And they see the food from 30 yards away. They see the food, it’s all there, but nobody is there because there are fences set up.
Asked later for how this would work, Trump did not give any further details.
Trump claims he hasn’t been ‘overly interested’ about controversy about his links to sex offender Jeffery Epstein
Asked about reports about his name being in the Epstein files, Trump claims that has not been that interested in this story. He says:
I haven’t been overly interested.
You know, it’s a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion. I can say this. Those files were run by the worst scum on earth … The whole thing is a hoax. They ran the files.
He says his enemies could have put material in the files that was fake.
And if the Democrats had had material to use against him that was damaging, they would have used it before the presidential election, he says.
Referring to the Wall Street Journal report saying he drew a picture of a nude woman as part of a suggestive birthday day message for Jeffrey Epstein when the two men were great friends, he says:
I don’t do drawings. I’m not a drawing person. I don’t do drawings. Sometimes you would say, would you draw a building? And I’ll draw four lines and a little roof, you know, for a charity stuff. But I’m not a drawing person. I don’t do drawings of women that I can tell you.
He also claims his poll ratings have increased by 4.5 points since this “ridiculous Epstein stuff” has been in the news.
The claim that Trump has not been interested in the Epstein story is preposterous, as David Smith explained in this Guardian article last week.
And last week Politico ran a report saying the White House was “paralysed” by indecision over how to respond to the story.
Trump claims nobody has suggested to him giving Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon
Q: Would you consider giving Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon?
Trump says:
Nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news about that, that aspect of it, but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.
Trump says he likes both Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage.
I happen to like both men. I like this man a lot, and I like Nigel.
And, you know, I don’t know the politics over here. I don’t know where they stand. I would say one is slightly liberal – not that liberal, slightly – and the other one is slightly conservative. But they’re both good men.
Trump says he knows that Starmer wants “to cut taxes as much as he can”. He says in politics the party that offers to cut taxes the most wins.
Trump suggests he could be invited to address parliament on further trip, after state visit
Trump offers to deliver a speech in parliament.
His state visit has been timed to take place in September while parliament is in recess, which is widely seen as a convenient way of avoiding the dilemma over whether or not to invite him to address MPs and peers. Not inviting him would look like a snub, but inviting him would be opposed by some parliamentarians.
Trump suggests he can come and address parliament on another visit.
As far as parliament, if [Starmer] wants me to speak in parliament, I’ll do it, OK.
But it doesn’t have to be [during the state visit]. It could be some other time. Maybe we should save it for another time. Well, we’ll let the one visit speak for itself, but anytime, if I could be helpful, I would certainly do it.
Starmer describes London mayor Sadiq Khan as a ‘friend’, after Trump calls him ‘nasty person’
Trump says he will be coming to London during the state visit. But he goes on to attack Sadiq Khan. He says:
I’m not a fan of your mayor. I think he’s done a terrible job.
Trump also describes him as a “nasty person”.
To his credit, Starmer intervenes to say that Khan is “a friend of mine”.
Starmer says Turnberry ‘magnificent’, but it is not for UK government to decide if it hosts the Open again
Asked about the prospects of the Open being held again at Turnberry (which is said to be one of Trump’s big demands from the UK at the moment), Starmer says this is the first time he has visited and that it is “absolutely magnificent”. But he says that is a decision for the golfing authorties, not for him.
Trump talks about his dispute with Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, recalling what he saw when he visited its HQ last week (because the White House has suggested alleged over-spending on a renovation project could justify Powell’s removal). He claims that he will miss Powell “greatly” when he has gone.
That is a joke about Trump wanting Powell gone, because he is refusing to cut interest rates.
Q: What do you think of John Swinney proposing a second independence referendum? [See 11.28am.]
Trump starts talking about Brexit, suggesting he may have got his referenda muddled up.
But, on referenda, he suggests that there is a case for a country having to wait before having a second vote.
He says he does not want to get too political.
He says he does not know John Swinney, but “I’ve heard great things about him”.
Starmer says he can answer directly.
I think that the first minister should probably focus more on his delivery in Scotland than on his constitutional issues, and we might have a better health service in Scotland.
He says the four nations of the UK are better off united.
Asked if he thought President Putin had lied to him about his commitment to a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump said there were times when they had had a good talk, and he thought Putin might agree to a ceasefire, but nothing had happened. He said this had happened too often, and he did not like it.
Trump is now boasting about his so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” – which will slash taxes for the wealthy, increase the US national debt and lead to millions of people losing access to Medicaid, government-funded health insurance.
He says he is convinced tax cuts are good for the country.
And he says that he thinks Keir Starmer will end up as a “tax cutter”.
Starmer says Online Safety Act will not censor Trump’s Truth Social social media company
Q: Are you worried the Online Safety Act is going to censore Truth Social, your social media site?
Trump jokes that he does not think that is likely.
Starmer says the act is not about censoring sites. He says the UK is committed to free speech. But children should be protected from things like suicide sites.
Trump says Congress passed similar legislation, supported by his wife. He goes on:
I cannot imainge him censoring Truth Social … I only say good things about him and his country.
Starmer says there is “revulsion” in the UK at what people are saying from Gaza, where people are starving.
He says aid needs to get in “at speed and volume”.
And he repeats the point he made earlier, thanking Trump for his efforts pushing for a ceasefire. (See 1.26pm.)
Trump declines to commit to exempting Scotch whisky from US tariffs
Q: You say you love Scotland. Will you exempt Scotch whisky from tariffs?
Trump replies:
I have great love for Scotland. You know, my mother loved Scotland, and she loved the Queen … Whenever the Queen was on television, she wanted to watch.
But, asked again if this would mean a special deal for Scotch whisky, Trump declines to make that offer. He says he thinks Scotland will benefit generally from the UK deal.
Trump says he wants Putin to agree ceasefire in Ukraine within 12 days
Q: What is your deadline for President Putin to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine? You originally said 50 days.
Trump says it will be about 10 or 12 days from today. There is no point waiting.
UPDATE: Trump said:
I’m going to make a new deadline, of about 10, 10 or 12 days from day. There’s no reason for waiting. It was 50 days, I wanted to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.
An earlier version of this post said that Trump was giving Putin 15 days to agree a ceasefire. That was a mistake, based on 50 sounding like 15. I’m sorry for that.
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