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Fallout over Epstein files directly threatening Prime Minister Keir Starmer
[ad_2]Fallout over Epstein files directly threatening Prime Minister Keir Starmer – CBS News
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‘Britain will not be dictated to by global elites again,’ Farage tells World Economic Forum
Nigel Farage insisted on Thursday ‘we will not be dictated to’ as he told global elites at Davos that the world has changed for good.
The Reform UK leader delivered the uncomfortable message as he attended the gathering of business and political classes at the World Economic Forum.
He also, however, suggested that the international organisation was now shifting away from the ideology that has dominated it for decades – and the ‘old Davos’ Keir Starmer was being left behind.
Mr Farage said his message to global elites was: ‘We will not be dictated to by you again.
‘We will not be lectured on climate change, we will not be lectured on the benefits of open borders, we will not be beholden to you. We will work constructively with you under a national interest framework.’
Earlier, he told a Bloomberg News event: ‘The globalist idea we should all do the same thing, have the same regulations, have the same targets – and the EU is the epicentre of all of this for the globalists – that’s now for the birds.
‘It’s a change of debate, there’s now something called national interest. And that’s the new politics that we’re seeing.’
Mr Farage was visiting Davos for the first time in the long lead-up to a general election which – if polls are to be believed – could propel him into Downing Street.
‘We will not be dictated to by you again’ ReformUK leader Nigel Farage told global elites at Davos, Switzerland (pictured)
He has been wooing business people and held a round table at Davos with top executives, who he said felt that the present Government was ‘utterly disconnected’.
Mr Farage revealed he wants to bring captains of industry into government and to create a beefed-up business ministry in a bid to boost growth.
He has previously been a critic of Davos and the globalisation ideology it represents, but now thinks it is changing.
He said he was surprised there is ‘genuine debate’ on artificial intelligence, crypto and energy – unlike previous years when it was dominated by climate change and diversity.
Mr Farage brushed off the idea the world could revert back to how it was before Donald Trump was elected US President.
He added: ‘I don’t think it’s just about Trump. I think Trump is an emblem of looking at things differently. I think you’re seeing it across Europe – things are changing.’
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Europeans reeling as Trump threatens tariffs on 8 countries over Greenland dispute
Europeans were reeling Sunday from President Trump’s announcement that eight countries will face a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland.
The responses to Mr. Trump’s decision ranged from saying it risked “a dangerous downward spiral” to predicting that “China and Russia must be having a field day.”
Mr. Trump’s threat sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying they are there for Arctic security training. Mr. Trump’s announcement came Saturday as thousands of Greenlanders were wrapping up a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in the capital, Nuuk.
The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.
The eight countries issued a joint statement Sunday: “As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest. The pre-coordinated Danish exercise ‘Arctic Endurance,’ conducted with Allies, responds to this necessity. It poses no threat to anyone.”
The statement added: “We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty.”
Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/NurPhoto via Getty Images
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs, because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading. Norway and the U.K. are not part of the 27-member EU, and it was not immediately clear if Mr. Trump’s tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.
It was unclear, too, how Mr. Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a Supreme Court challenge.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity.”
Mr. Trump’s move also was panned domestically.
Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Mr. Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on X. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”
A CBS News poll released Sunday found widespread opposition among Americans to buying Greenland or taking it by military force. Seventy percent said they would oppose using federal funds to buy the territory, and 86% said they would oppose seizing it militarily.
The tariffs announcement even drew blowback from Mr. Trump’s populist allies in Europe.
Italy’s right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”
The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters during a two-day visit to South Korea. She said the deployment was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Mr. Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”
Mr. Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.
“We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Mr. Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Mr. Trump’s designs on Greenland.
Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.
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The US has captured Venezuelan leader Maduro. Here’s what to know
Caracas (CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the US will “run” Venezuela after capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a large-scale military operation, a stunning development that plunged the country into uncertainty after weeks of spiraling tensions.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” he wrote on Truth Social early Saturday morning.
Trump later said the US would play a central role in running the country indefinitely until a formal transition of power can take place, while declining to rule out the possibility of longer-term military involvement in Venezuela.
“We’re going to be running it,” he said from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Venezuela requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to the attack, Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto said.
“No cowardly attack will prevail against the strength of this people, who will emerge victorious,” he said on Telegram, sharing the letter sent to the UN.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez demanded the “immediate release” of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Rodríguez, who Trump said earlier was sworn in as president, said Venezuela’s territorial integrity was “savagely attacked” by the US operation.
Trump on Saturday morning posted a photo of Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima, where the Venezuelan president and his wife were held before being transported to New York, where they face charges. The ousted leader and his wife were brought to New York on Saturday evening, and Maduro is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
A new indictment filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and shared by Attorney General Pam Bondi alleges that Maduro ran “state sponsored gangs” and facilitated drug trafficking in the country.
Trump said he did not notify members of Congress until after the strike, saying at his news conference at Mar-a-Lago that “Congress has a tendency to leak. It would not be good if they leaked.”
Democratic lawmakers demanded an immediate briefing and criticized the administration for not seeking congressional authorization before the attack, while Republican lawmakers largely applauded the action.
Here’s what we know:
What happened?
A CNN team witnessed several explosions and heard the sounds of aircraft early Saturday in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity.
Videos verified by CNN showed helicopters roaring over Caracas, with plumes of smoke rising into the night sky. Footage also showed a large blaze and explosions at an airport in the city of Higuerote.
Hours after the strikes, CNN’s Mary Mena said from Caracas that the capital was calm.
“We listened to many airplanes and helicopters passing by, but right now the city remains quiet, for the past two hours,” she said. “We haven’t heard people for example coming to the streets, and the state channel keeps repeating this message from the ministry of defense saying they want people to remain calm and they will deploy military forces across the country.”
The first blast witnessed by the CNN team was recorded at approximately 1:50 a.m. local time (12:50 a.m. ET).
“One was so strong, my window was shaking after it,” CNN en Español correspondent Osmary Hernández said.
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine later described an extensive overnight operation to capture Maduro and his wife that involved more than 150 aircraft launching from bases across the Western Hemisphere.
Among them were helicopters carrying an extraction force that entered Venezuela at low altitude before arriving at Maduro’s compound around 1 a.m. ET. The US soldiers came under fire, spending several hours on the ground before successfully capturing Maduro and his wife and flying out of Venezuela about 3:29 a.m. ET, Caine said.
Two sources familiar with the matter said Maduro and his wife were dragged from their bedroom by US forces during the raid. The couple was captured in the middle of the night as they were sleeping, the sources said.
The raid, carried out by the US Army’s elite Delta Force with the assistance of an FBI unit, did not lead to any US deaths. However, a handful of troops sustained bullet and shrapnel wounds, a source briefed on the matter told CNN. Caine also said that one aircraft “was hit, but remained flyable” and was able to make it out of Venezuela.
Maduro and his wife were then transferred to the USS Iwo Jima, beginning a trip that ultimately ended in New York, where they’re expected to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges.
Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela on January 3, 2026. Credit: Matias Delacroix / AP via CNN Newsource Why is it happening?
The Trump administration has for years said that Maduro was a criminal and has sought to prosecute him through the US legal system.
In 2020, during Trump’s first term, the Department of Justice charged Maduro in the Southern District of New York for “narco-terrorism,” conspiracy to import cocaine, and related charges.
The Trump administration offered a $15 million bounty for Maduro’s arrest. That bounty was increased to $25 million in the waning days of the Biden administration, in early January 2025, and was increased again, to $50 million, in August 2025 after Trump took office for a second term and designated Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. The administration has claimed that Maduro is the leader of that group, which it describes as a criminal organization.
Trump had repeatedly warned for months that the US was preparing to take new action against alleged drug-trafficking networks in Venezuela and that strikes on land would start “soon.”
Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro has included strikes destroying more than 30 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in what the US has described as a counter-narcotics campaign. Trump last month ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela, and the US has seized multiple vessels since the announcement.
The CIA carried out a drone strike in December on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, CNN reported last month, citing sources, marking the first known US attack on a target inside that country.
Trump said Saturday he also directly urged Maduro to surrender voluntarily.
“I said, ‘You got to surrender,’” he said. “And I actually thought he was pretty close to doing so, but now he wished he did.”
Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela on Saturday. Credit: Matias Delacroix / AP via CNN Newsource Several world leaders, including US allies, have reacted with concern to the US operation.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he “wants to establish the facts” and speak to Trump about the military operation in Venezuela, according to the UK’s PA Media news agency.
“I always say and believe we should all uphold international law,” Starmer said, adding that Britain was “not involved in any way” in the strike on Caracas, PA Media reported.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a post on X that the commission “stand(s) by the people of Venezuela and support(s) a peaceful and democratic transition. Any solution must respect international law and the UN Charter.”
Many leaders across Latin America expressed concern to the US attack on Venezuela, with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel slamming what he called a “criminal” attack by the US. Meanwhile, Argentine President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, appeared to welcome the capture of Venezuela’s leader with a message on X: “Freedom advances! Long live freedom, damn it!”
Venezuela’s allies Russia and Iran condemned the US attack.
The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced what it called an “act of armed aggression against Venezuela” by the US, calling any “excuses” given to justify such actions “untenable.”
“We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and our support for the Bolivarian leadership’s course of action aimed at protecting the country’s national interests and sovereignty,” a statement from the foreign ministry said.
Similarly, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the attack violates Venezuela’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the UN Charter, Iranian state news outlet Press TV reported.
What comes next?
What happens next in Venezuela is far from clear. The country’s constitution states that power passes to Maduro’s vice president, Rodríguez.
Trump said that Rodríguez spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and that “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
However, in a defiant address broadcast from Caracas, Rodríguez asserted that Maduro is “the only president of Venezuela” and that Venezuelans “must not become slaves again.”
Trump said he planned to have the US effectively run Venezuela for an indefinite period as it works toward a formal transition of power. Top US officials, including Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, will work with a “team” to assist in leading the country, he said, without offering specifics.
Trump could not say how long the US would be centrally involved in Venezuela’s governance, but suggested that he was open to a longer-term process that could include a US military presence.
He repeatedly asserted that his administration would partner with US energy companies to take control of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, arguing that the US was owed oil as “reimbursement for the damages” that he alleged had been inflicted on the country by Venezuela.
“We’re going to take back the oil that, frankly, we should have taken back a long time ago,” Trump said.
That leaves the future of the current Venezuelan regime in serious doubt, yet little clarity on whether its opposition — within and outside the country — will be positioned to capitalize on the opportunity.
If the US ultimately follows Venezuela’s constitutional path, elections are supposed to be held within 30 days. The newly elected president then serves a full six-year term.
The most likely opposition candidate is Edmundo González Urrutia, who ran in the 2024 election. González, an academic and longtime diplomat, is now in exile in Spain. He is supported by the recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, democratic activist María Corina Machado.
On Saturday, Machado said the time has come for “popular sovereignty” in Venezuela and the installation of González as the country’s leader.
“Nicolás Maduro from today faces international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations,” she said in a letter posted on X. “Given his refusal to accept a negotiated solution, the government of the United States has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law.”
But Trump declined to endorse any immediate successor or lay out a plan for holding elections and restoring stability in Venezuela, while rejecting the possibility that Machado could serve as an interim leader.
“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” he said. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Instead, Trump appeared comfortable in the immediate aftermath of Maduro’s ouster with maintaining control over Venezuela for as long as he deemed fit.
“It’s not going to cost us anything,” he said. “We’re going to be rebuilding.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Osmary Hernández, Mary Triny Mena, Tim Lister, Jennifer Hansler, Alejandra Jaramillo, Isaac Yee, Michael Rios, Billy Stockwell and Laura Sharman contributed to this report
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Stefano Pozzebon, Simone McCarthy, Adam Cancryn and CNN
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Britain’s unpopular government prepares a high-stakes budget and hopes for growth
LONDON (AP) — After being elected in a landslide last year, Britain’s Labour Party government delivered a budget it billed as a one-off dose of tax hikes to fix the public finances, get debt down, ease the cost of living and spur economic growth.
A year on, inflation remains stubbornly high, government borrowing is up and the economy is turgid. The annual budget, due on Wednesday, is expected to bring more tax hikes in pursuit of the same elusive economic boom.
Rain Newton-Smith, head of business group the Confederation of British Industry, said Monday that “it feels less like we’re on the move, and more like we’re stuck in ‘Groundhog Day.’”
It’s not just businesses who are concerned. Alarmed by the government’s consistently dire poll ratings, some Labour lawmakers are mulling the once-unthinkable idea of ousting Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who led them to victory less than 18 months ago.
Luke Tryl, director of pollster More in Common, said voters “don’t understand why there has not been positive change.
“This could be a last-chance saloon moment for the government.”
Not much room for maneuver
The government says Treasury chief Rachel Reeves will make “tough but right decisions” in her budget to ease the cost of living, safeguard public services and keep debt under control.
She has limited room for maneuver. Britain’s economy, the world’s sixth-largest, has underperformed its long-run average since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, and the center-left Labour government elected in July 2024 has struggled to deliver promised economic growth.
Like other Western economies, Britain’s public finances have been squeezed by the costs of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariffs. The U.K. bears the extra burden of Brexit, which has knocked billions off the economy since the country left the European Union in 2020.
The government currently spends more than 100 billion pounds ($130 billion) a year servicing the U.K.’s debt, which stands at around 95% of annual national income.
Adding to pressure is the fact that Labour governments historically have had to work harder than Conservative administrations to convince businesses and the financial markets that they are economically sound.
Reeves is mindful of how financial markets can react when the government’s numbers don’t add up. The short-lived premiership of Liz Truss ended in October 2022 after her package of unfunded tax cuts roiled financial markets, drove down the value of the pound and sent borrowing costs soaring.
Luke Hickmore, an investment director at Aberdeen Investments, said the bond market is the “ultimate reality check” for budget policy.
“If investors lose faith, the cost of borrowing rises sharply, and political leaders have little choice but to change course,” he said.
Mixed pre-budget signals
The government has ruled out public spending cuts of the kind seen during 14 years of Conservative government, and its attempts to cut Britain’s huge welfare bill have been stymied by Labour lawmakers.
That leaves tax increases as the government’s main revenue-raising option.
“We’re very much not in the position that Rachel Reeves hoped to be in,” said Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government think tank.
Instead of an economy that has “sparked into life,” enabling higher spending and lower taxes, Rutter said Reeves must decide whether “to fill a big fiscal black hole with tax increases or spending cuts.”
The budget comes after weeks of messy mixed messaging that saw Reeves signal she would raise income tax rates – breaking a key election promise – before hastily reversing course.
In a Nov. 4 speech, Reeves laid the groundwork for income tax hikes by arguing that the economy is sicker and the global outlook worse than the government knew when it took office.
After an outcry among Labour lawmakers, and a better-than-expected update on the public finances, the government signaled it preferred a smorgasbord of smaller revenue-raising measures such as a “mansion tax” on expensive homes and a pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicle drivers.
The government will try to ease the sting with sweeteners including an above-inflation boost to pension payments for millions of retirees and a freeze on train fares.
Critics say more taxes on employees and businesses, following tax hikes on businesses in last year’s budget, will push the economy further into a low-growth doom loop.
Patrick Diamond, professor in public policy at Queen Mary University of London, said satisfying both markets and voters is difficult.
“You can give markets confidence, but that probably means raising taxes, which is very unpopular with voters,” he said. “On the other hand, you can give voters confidence by trying to minimize the impact of tax rises, but that makes markets nervous because they feel that the government doesn’t have a clear fiscal plan.”
High stakes for Reeves and Starmer
The budget comes as Starmer is facing mounting concern from Labour lawmakers over his dire poll ratings. Opinion polls consistently put Labour well behind the hard-right Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage.
The prime minister’s office sparked a flurry of speculation earlier this month by preemptively telling news outlets that Starmer would fight any challenge to his leadership. What looked like an attempt to strengthen Starmer’s authority backfired. The reports set off jitters verging on panic among Labour lawmakers, who fear the party is heading for a big defeat at the next election.
That election does not have to be held until 2029, and the government continues to hope that its economic measures will spur higher growth and ease financial pressures.
But analysts say a misfiring budget could be another nail in the coffin of Starmer’s government.
“Both Starmer and Reeves are really unpopular,” Rutter said. “They may be hanging on for now, but I don’t think people will be giving you great odds that they’ll necessarily last the course of the Parliament,” which runs until the next election.
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UK leader suggests former Prince Andrew should testify in US investigation into Jeffrey Epstein
Britain’s Prince Andrew, *** prince no more, his brother King Charles officially starting the process of stripping Andrew of his remaining royal titles and evicting him from the royal estate in Windsor. It’s the royal family’s strongest response yet to the disgraced Prince’s links to. Late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It’s *** moment about justice, right? Epstein’s survivor Danielle Binsky responding to the news Thursday. I think it was incredibly hopeful for survivors, and it’s *** glimmer of hope that we haven’t seen, um, in *** really long time, if ever. The years-long controversy over Andrew’s friendship with Epstein intensified after the release of *** posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged Andrew sexually assaulted her when she was *** teenager. Andrew has repeatedly denied all allegations against him. He claimed he never met Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at the age of 41. On Thursday, her family released *** statement reading in part, quote, Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down *** British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage. Giuffre’s brother also spoke out on Thursday. I think this is *** big sense of vindication for her from. Not just the general public, but from the king himself to say I stand by survivors. Buckingham Palace also released *** statement reading in part, quote, Their Majesties’ wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been and will remain with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse. I’m Reid Benyon reporting.
UK leader suggests former Prince Andrew should testify in US investigation into Jeffrey Epstein
Updated: 12:02 PM EST Nov 23, 2025
Pressure is increasing for the former Prince Andrew to give evidence to a U.S. congressional committee investigating the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after Britain’s prime minister suggested he should testify.Keir Starmer declined to comment directly about King Charles III’s disgraced younger brother, but told reporters traveling with him for the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg that as a “general principle” people should provide evidence to investigators.”I don’t comment on his particular case,” Starmer said. “But as a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it.”The former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has so far ignored a request from members of the House Oversight Committee for a “transcribed interview” about his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles and honors last month as the royal family tried to insulate itself from criticism about his relationship with Epstein.Starmer’s comments came after Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the committee’s ranking Democrat, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat from Virginia, said Andrew “continues to hide” from serious questions.”Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status or political party,” they said in a statement released on Friday. “We will get justice for the survivors.”
Pressure is increasing for the former Prince Andrew to give evidence to a U.S. congressional committee investigating the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after Britain’s prime minister suggested he should testify.
Keir Starmer declined to comment directly about King Charles III’s disgraced younger brother, but told reporters traveling with him for the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg that as a “general principle” people should provide evidence to investigators.
“I don’t comment on his particular case,” Starmer said. “But as a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it.”
The former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has so far ignored a request from members of the House Oversight Committee for a “transcribed interview” about his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles and honors last month as the royal family tried to insulate itself from criticism about his relationship with Epstein.
Starmer’s comments came after Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the committee’s ranking Democrat, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat from Virginia, said Andrew “continues to hide” from serious questions.
“Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status or political party,” they said in a statement released on Friday. “We will get justice for the survivors.”
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U.K. Follows Europe and U.S. in Crackdown on Asylum Seekers
LONDON—The U.K. government on Monday announced an overhaul of its immigration policy to deter asylum seekers from arriving on British shores, the latest European nation to tighten rules in response to growing dissatisfaction from voters at levels of illegal immigration.
The Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a suite of policies including changing laws to make it easier to expel migrants, quadrupling the length of time they have to wait to become permanent residents to 20 years and regularly reviewing whether their home countries have become safer and can take them back.
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Opinion | An English City Bars Israeli Soccer Fans
Is Britain safe for Jews? On Thursday authorities in Birmingham, the country’s second-largest city, prohibited the fans of an Israeli soccer team from attending a match next month, even though the threats to cause trouble are coming from locals. What an alarming message from police, and it comes barely two weeks after an Islamist terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
The match, scheduled for Nov. 6, is part of a larger tournament and will pit Birmingham’s Aston Villa team against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Safety Advisory Group, an arm of the city government, last week barred Tel Aviv fans from attending, ruling that the event is “high risk.” West Midlands Police, which advises the committee, said the decision “is based on current intelligence and previous incidents.”
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British police arrest 6 after deadly Manchester synagogue attack
Police on Saturday were questioning six people arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on a synagogue in northwest England that left two men dead and Britain’s Jewish community shocked and grieving.
Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police on Thursday outside the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Manchester after he rammed a car into pedestrians, attacked them with a knife and tried to force his way into the building.
Three men and three women, aged between 18 and their 60s, were arrested in the greater Manchester area on suspicion of the “commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism,” as police work to determine whether the attacker acted alone.
Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block Al-Shamie from entering. Three other men are hospitalized with serious injuries.
Detectives say Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian origin who lived in Manchester, may have been influenced by “extreme Islamist ideology.” He wore what appeared to be an explosives belt, which was found to be fake.
Police said Al-Shamie was out on bail over an alleged rape at the time of the attack but had not been charged.
Ian Hodgson / AP
The attack has devastated Britain’s Jewish community and intensified debate about the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism.
Recorded antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have risen sharply since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, a charity that provides advice and protection for British Jews.
Some politicians and religious leaders claimed pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which have been held regularly since the war in Gaza began, had played a role in spreading hatred of Jews. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful but some say chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” incite anti-Jewish hatred.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters have frequently accused critics of Israel for its conduct of the war of antisemitism. Critics see it as an attempt to stifle even legitimate criticism.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said the attack was the result of “an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred” on the streets and online.
Ian Hodgson / AP
Some also say the U.K.’s recognition of a Palestinian state last month has emboldened antisemitism — a claim the government rejects. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was interrupted by boos and shouts of “Shame on you” on Friday as he addressed a vigil for victims of the attack in Manchester.
Police in London urged organizers to call off a protest planned for Saturday to oppose the banning of the group Palestine Action, which has been labeled a terrorist organization by the government.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said protest organizers should “recognize and respect the grief of British Jews this week” and postpone the demonstration.
The group Defend Our Juries said it would not cancel the protest, where hundreds of people are expected to risk arrest by holding signs supporting the banned group.
Member Jonathon Porritt said protesters would “demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.”
“But I don’t think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza,” he told the BBC.
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UK announces plans for digital ID cards
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a new requirement for all working adults in the country to carry a digital identification called the Brit Card. In practice, the Brit Card will be based on the One Login infrastructure already used by the UK government.
Supporters of the plan say digital ID cards can ensure that people have the right to work in the UK, and thus could help crack down on illegal immigration and exploitative employment schemes. “It will send a clear message that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to work, deterring people from making these dangerous journeys,” Starmer’s office wrote bluntly in the announcement. The UK government also plans to have an “outreach programme, including face-to-face support” for those “who aren’t able to use a smartphone” or those who “aren’t as experienced with the digital world, like the homeless and older people.”
The announcement claims the scheme will use “state-of-the-art encryption and authentication technology” and that “digital credentials will be stored directly on people’s own device.” However, critics say the IDs may infringe on civil liberties by requiring citizens to give the government additional personal information. They also raise concerns about how the administration plans to protect all those sensitive details from misuse or theft.
“No system is immune to failure, and we have seen time and again governments and tech giants fail to protect people’s personal data,” said David Davis, a Conservative MP and former cabinet minister. “If world-leading companies cannot protect our data, I have little faith that Whitehall would be able to do better.”
Anna Washenko
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First migrants arrive from France under ‘one in one out’ deal
A family of three, including a small child, are the first people to arrive in the UK under the government’s “one in, one out” agreement with France.
The move follows the removal of four migrants from the UK so far under the pilot scheme.
“This is a clear message to people-smuggling gangs that illegal entry into the UK will not be tolerated,” a Home Office spokesperson said.
“We will continue to detain and remove those who arrive by small boat.”
It is the latest development in the implementation of an agreement the government hopes will deter people from making the dangerous and illegal journey over the English Channel.
There is no suggestion from either the French or British governments that the plan will, on its own, smash the cross-channel trade.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is also seeking to dismantle criminal smuggling networks behind the crossings that the Home Office say “profit from human misery”.
However, the pilot has faced criticism from political opponents and rights groups.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp has previously said the government’s deal with the French would be less effective than the Rwanda plan proposed by the previous Tory government, and would offer “no deterrent effect whatsoever”.
The numbers returned so far were “pathetic”, he added.
The charity Asylum Matters, meanwhile, has argued that “the only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them real safe routes to seek sanctuary”.
The “one in, one out” scheme was announced in July.
Under the treaty, France agreed to take back migrants who had travelled to the UK by small boat and had their asylum claim withdrawn or declared inadmissible.
For each person returned to France, the UK will accept someone with a case for protection as a refugee who has not attempted to cross the Channel.
While this removal has been delayed, the government has been successful in sending four others to France who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.
Last week, an Indian national was the first person to be removed from the UK, followed days later by an Eritrean man, despite a legal bid to delay his departure.
Home Office sources said an Iranian male had also been returned to France, and later the department said an Afghan national had been returned.
However, the Home Office was refused permission on Tuesday to appeal against a temporary injunction blocking another Eritrean man from being removed.
In a last-minute reprieve, the High Court in London gave him at least 14 days to make representations to support his claim that he is a victim of modern slavery.
More than 30,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year.
The total number of small boat crossings in the English Channel this year has dipped below record levels for the first time since 3 March, new government figures suggest.
In the year to 23 September, 32,188 people arrived in the UK by small boat, 148 fewer than at the same point in 2022.
French authorities say they have prevented more than 17,600 attempted crossings this year. But under maritime law, French officers say they cannot intervene once boats are in the water unless there is a threat to life.
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LIVE: Trump and Starmer sign tech deal before holding private talks on tariffs and war
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed what he called a historic agreement on science and technology with Britain as United Kingdom officials who have gone all out to impress him with royal pageantry during his state visit now try to deliver key trade and business deals that can further their country’s interests.Watch a livestream of a press conference between Trump and Starmer in the video player above.Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a roundtable with business leaders as they signed the deal. They also had private meetings where the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and tariff rates the U.S. may set on steel imported from Britain were expected to be discussed. A joint news conference was coming up.At the signing ceremony for an agreement meant to promote tech investment in both nations, Starmer referred to the American president as “my friend, our friend” and spoke of “leaders who respect each other and leaders who genuinely like each other.” The event took place at Chequers, a 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders.The British charm offensive continued after King Charles III and Queen Camilla had feted Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, on Wednesday. The royals used the first of the Trump’s two-day state visit to offer all the pomp the monarchy can muster: gold-trimmed carriages, scarlet-clad soldiers, artillery salutes, a glittering banquet in a grand ceremonial hall and the biggest military honor guard ever assembled for such a state visit.Trump has seemed grateful for all the attention — so much so that he has largely stuck to script and offered little of his typical off-the-cuff criticism of hosts.Still, he had his moments. Trump joked with his treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, as he signed the tech deal, “Should I sign this Howard? Scott? If the deal’s no good I’m blaming you.”After bidding goodbye to the king and queen at Windsor — Trump called the monarch “a great gentleman, and a great king” — the Trumps flew by helicopter some 20 miles (32 kilometers) to Chequers. The Republican president was welcomed by ceremonial honor guard complete with bagpipers — a nod to Trump’s Scottish heritage — and shown items from the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term “special relationship” for the bond between the allies.It’s a point that Trump’s British hosts have stressed, almost 250 years after that relationship endured a rocky start in 1776.Trump told business leaders at a reception at Chequers that the two countries shared an “unbreakable bond.” Starmer said that relationship “is the very foundation of our security, our freedom and our prosperity.”Trans-Atlantic tech partnershipTo coincide with the visit, Britain said U.S. companies had pledged 150 billion pounds ($204 billion) in investment in the U.K, including 90 billion pounds ($122 billion) from investment firm Blackstone in the next decade. Investment will also flow the other way, including almost $30 billion by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the U.S.At the reception, attended by tech bosses including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and U.S. officials such as Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Starmer said it was “the biggest investment package of its kind in British history by a country mile.”U.K. officials say the deal will bring thousands of jobs and billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy. It includes a U.K. arm of Stargate, a Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of AI data centers around the U.K. American companies are announcing 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) in investment in the U.K.’s AI sector, including $30 billion from Microsoft for protects including Britain’s largest supercomputer.British officials say they have not agreed to scrap a digital services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some details of which have yet to be announced.The British government is learning that when it comes to deals with Trump’s team, the devil is in the details. In May, Starmer and Trump struck a trade agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries.But talks on slashing duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current level of 25% have stalled, despite a promise in May that the issue would be settled within weeks.The British Chambers of Commerce said failure to cut the tariffs would be “greeted with dismay” by the British steel industry.Difficult discussions on Ukraine, Middle EastIn the private talks, difficult conversations were expected about Ukraine and the Middle East.The British government has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinian civilians, calling Israel’s latest Gaza City offensive “utterly reckless and appalling.” Starmer has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state this month, potentially within days. Trump has threatened to penalize Canada during trade negotiations for making a similar move.Starmer also has played a major part in European efforts to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations. On Tuesday, Trump appeared to put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “He’s going to have to make a deal.”The king gave Trump a gentle nudge in his state banquet speech on the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Charles noted that “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”Potentially awkward Epstein questionsStarmer will be bracing for awkward questions from the media about Jeffrey Epstein. Days before the state visit, Starmer fired Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, over the envoy’s past friendship with the convicted sex offender, who authorities say killed himself in 2019.Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer’s government is struggling to kickstart Britain’s sluggish economy and his Labour Party is lagging in the polls. Starmer wants a successful state visit to balance weeks of bad news.Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said Trump’s trip was likely to be “a difficult visit for the prime minister, much more so than for the U.S. president.”For Trump, “this plays well at home, it plays well abroad. It’s almost entirely to President Trump’s advantage to turn up to Britain and be celebrated by the British establishment,” she said.
AYLESBURY, England —President Donald Trump on Thursday signed what he called a historic agreement on science and technology with Britain as United Kingdom officials who have gone all out to impress him with royal pageantry during his state visit now try to deliver key trade and business deals that can further their country’s interests.
Watch a livestream of a press conference between Trump and Starmer in the video player above.
Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a roundtable with business leaders as they signed the deal. They also had private meetings where the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and tariff rates the U.S. may set on steel imported from Britain were expected to be discussed. A joint news conference was coming up.
At the signing ceremony for an agreement meant to promote tech investment in both nations, Starmer referred to the American president as “my friend, our friend” and spoke of “leaders who respect each other and leaders who genuinely like each other.” The event took place at Chequers, a 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders.
The British charm offensive continued after King Charles III and Queen Camilla had feted Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, on Wednesday. The royals used the first of the Trump’s two-day state visit to offer all the pomp the monarchy can muster: gold-trimmed carriages, scarlet-clad soldiers, artillery salutes, a glittering banquet in a grand ceremonial hall and the biggest military honor guard ever assembled for such a state visit.
Trump has seemed grateful for all the attention — so much so that he has largely stuck to script and offered little of his typical off-the-cuff criticism of hosts.
Still, he had his moments. Trump joked with his treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, as he signed the tech deal, “Should I sign this Howard? Scott? If the deal’s no good I’m blaming you.”
After bidding goodbye to the king and queen at Windsor — Trump called the monarch “a great gentleman, and a great king” — the Trumps flew by helicopter some 20 miles (32 kilometers) to Chequers. The Republican president was welcomed by ceremonial honor guard complete with bagpipers — a nod to Trump’s Scottish heritage — and shown items from the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term “special relationship” for the bond between the allies.
It’s a point that Trump’s British hosts have stressed, almost 250 years after that relationship endured a rocky start in 1776.
Trump told business leaders at a reception at Chequers that the two countries shared an “unbreakable bond.” Starmer said that relationship “is the very foundation of our security, our freedom and our prosperity.”
Trans-Atlantic tech partnership
To coincide with the visit, Britain said U.S. companies had pledged 150 billion pounds ($204 billion) in investment in the U.K, including 90 billion pounds ($122 billion) from investment firm Blackstone in the next decade. Investment will also flow the other way, including almost $30 billion by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the U.S.
At the reception, attended by tech bosses including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and U.S. officials such as Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Starmer said it was “the biggest investment package of its kind in British history by a country mile.”
U.K. officials say the deal will bring thousands of jobs and billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy. It includes a U.K. arm of Stargate, a Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of AI data centers around the U.K. American companies are announcing 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) in investment in the U.K.’s AI sector, including $30 billion from Microsoft for protects including Britain’s largest supercomputer.
British officials say they have not agreed to scrap a digital services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some details of which have yet to be announced.
The British government is learning that when it comes to deals with Trump’s team, the devil is in the details. In May, Starmer and Trump struck a trade agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries.
But talks on slashing duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current level of 25% have stalled, despite a promise in May that the issue would be settled within weeks.
The British Chambers of Commerce said failure to cut the tariffs would be “greeted with dismay” by the British steel industry.
Difficult discussions on Ukraine, Middle East
In the private talks, difficult conversations were expected about Ukraine and the Middle East.
The British government has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinian civilians, calling Israel’s latest Gaza City offensive “utterly reckless and appalling.” Starmer has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state this month, potentially within days. Trump has threatened to penalize Canada during trade negotiations for making a similar move.
Starmer also has played a major part in European efforts to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations. On Tuesday, Trump appeared to put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “He’s going to have to make a deal.”
The king gave Trump a gentle nudge in his state banquet speech on the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Charles noted that “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”
Potentially awkward Epstein questions
Starmer will be bracing for awkward questions from the media about Jeffrey Epstein. Days before the state visit, Starmer fired Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, over the envoy’s past friendship with the convicted sex offender, who authorities say killed himself in 2019.
Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer’s government is struggling to kickstart Britain’s sluggish economy and his Labour Party is lagging in the polls. Starmer wants a successful state visit to balance weeks of bad news.
Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said Trump’s trip was likely to be “a difficult visit for the prime minister, much more so than for the U.S. president.”
For Trump, “this plays well at home, it plays well abroad. It’s almost entirely to President Trump’s advantage to turn up to Britain and be celebrated by the British establishment,” she said.
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Live updates: Trump’s U.K. visit turns from royalty to politics, as Brits focus on trade, Gaza and Ukraine
What to know about Chequers, the U.K. prime minister’s country house
Chequers is the U.K. prime minister’s country house. Located about 40 miles northwest of London, it is a formidable estate, though no match for the environs of Windsor Castle where Mr. Trump spent Wednesday.
The home was constructed in the mid-1500s, about 200 years before the United States came into being, and it has served as the official country residence of Britain’s prime ministers since 1921.
Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS
Highly secured and well out of public view, Chequers has been the venue for a number of important meetings and negotiations. Famous visitors over the years have included many European leaders, U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In 1941, then-U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was at Chequers when he learned that the Japanese navy had attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II.
Trump arrives at Chequers for meeting with U.K. leader Keir Starmer
President Trump’s Marine One helicopter touched down on the grounds of the U.K. prime minister’s official country residence Thursday.
Mr. Trump was greeted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria, and they walked into the house for a day of closed-door talks and a separate meeting with business leaders.
What are Trump and the U.K.’s Starmer expected to discuss?
Mr. Trump and Starmer are expected to discuss a range of issues Thursday, including trade. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said Starmer’s government is hoping to negotiate “a little bit better deal” to ease trade restrictions including U.S. tariffs.
The leaders are expected to formally announce a U.S.-U.K. “Technology Prosperity Deal,” boosting ties in AI, quantum computing, and nuclear energy, with companies including Google, Microsoft and Nvidia on board to formalize some $42 billion of investments in the U.K.
The wars in Gaza and Ukraine are also likely to come up, as Starmer has joined several other countries in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state if Israel fails to meet certain conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas and letting in more humanitarian aid.
Chris Furlong/Getty
On the war in Ukraine, Starmer and other European leaders have pushed Mr. Trump to take a harder line on Vladimir Putin, who’s blown past a series of deadlines issued by the president for Putin to meet directly with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a ceasefire.
Mr. Trump has recently said “it takes two to tango,” suggesting he could still impose new sanctions against Russia, but he said America’s NATO allies first had to halt all purchases of Russian energy.
By Tucker Reals and Sara Cook
What’s in store for Day 2 of President Trump’s second state visit to the U.K.
President Trump bid farewell to King Charles and Windsor Castle on Thursday and boarded his Marine One helicopter for the short flight to Chequers, the official country residence of the British prime minister, Keir Starmer.
He’s to hold a bilateral meeting, behind closed doors, with Starmer, and will also join a reception with business leaders, before the two leaders hold a joint news conference.
On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump will leave Chequers and fly back to the U.S.
What Trump did on Day 1 of his historic second U.K. state visit
President Trump and first lady Melania were feted by King Charles III on the first full day of their state visit, the British royals putting on the kind of display they have long been known for — giving their U.S. visitor full military honors and a glittering state banquet at Windsor Castle.
There were protests in London, and even at Windsor the night before the Trumps arrived, deriding the U.S. leader’s policies and highlighting his past ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But police estimated a crowd of only about 5,000, and as the protesters were in central London, about 20 miles from Windsor, they were well out of Mr. Trump’s earshot as he enjoyed the royal treatment.
DOUG MILLS/POOL/AFP/Getty
The day included a military honor featuring more than 1,000 British troops marching in formation, a military flypast — albeit toned down due to rain, a visit to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb, and then a formal state banquet where Mr. Trump sat at the center of a dining table more than 150 feet long.
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Trump heads to a UK state visit where trade and tech talks will mix with royal pomp
President Donald Trump will arrive in the United Kingdom on Tuesday for a state visit during which the British government hopes a multibillion-dollar technology deal will show the trans-Atlantic bond remains strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of the Western alliance.State visits in Britain blend 21st-century diplomacy with royal pageantry. Trump’s two-day trip comes complete with horse-drawn carriages, military honor guards and a glittering banquet inside a 1,000-year-old castle — all tailored to a president with a fondness for gilded splendor.King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday before talks the next day with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the British leader’s rural retreat.Starmer’s office said the visit will demonstrate that “the U.K.-U.S. relationship is the strongest in the world, built on 250 years of history” — after that awkward rupture in 1776 — and bound by shared values of “belief in the rule of law and open markets.” There was no mention of Trump’s market-crimping fondness for sweeping tariffs.The White House expects the two countries will strengthen their relationship during the trip and celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, according to a senior White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear how the U.K. was planning to mark that chapter in their shared history.“The trip to the U.K. is going to be incredible,” Trump told reporters Sunday. He said Windsor Castle is “supposed to be amazing” and added: “It’s going to be very exciting.”Trump’s second state visitTrump is the first U.S. president to get a second state visit to the U.K.The unprecedented nature of the invitation, along with the expectation of lavish pomp and pageantry, holds dual appeal to Trump. The president has glowingly praised the king’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and spoken about how his own Scotland-born mother loved the queen and the monarchy.Trump, as he left the White House on Tuesday, noted that during his past state visit he was hosted at Buckingham Palace.“I don’t want to say one is better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate,” Trump said.He also called the king “an elegant gentleman” and said “he represents the country so well.”The president is also royally flattered by exceptional attention and has embraced the grandeur of his office in his second term. He has adorned the normally more austere Oval Office with gold accents, is constructing an expansive ballroom at the White House and has sought to refurbish other Washington buildings to his liking.Foreign officials have shown they’re attuned to his tastes. During a visit to the Middle East this year, leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar didn’t just roll out a red carpet but dispatched fighter jets to escort Trump’s plane.Starmer has already shown he’s adept at charming Trump. Visiting Washington in February, he noted the president’s Oval Office decorating choices and decision to display a bust of Winston Churchill. During Trump’s private trip to Scotland in July, Starmer visited and praised Trump’s golf courses.Efforts to woo the president make some members of Starmer’s Labour Party uneasy, and Trump will not address Parliament during his visit, like French President Emmanuel Macron did in July. Lawmakers will be on their annual autumn recess, sparing the government an awkward decision.The itinerary in Windsor and at Chequers, both well outside London, also keeps Trump away from a planned mass protest against his visit.“This visit is really important to Keir Starmer to show that he’s a statesman,” said Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “But it’s such a double-edged sword, because he’s going to be a statesman alongside a U.S. president that is not popular in Europe.”Troubles for StarmerPreparations for the visit have been ruffled by political turmoil in Starmer’s center-left government. Last week, Starmer sacked Britain’s ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over his past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Mandelson had good relations with the Trump administration and played a key role in securing a U.K.-U.S. trade agreement in May. His firing has put Epstein back in British headlines as Trump tries to swerve questions about his own relationship with the disgraced financier.Mandelson’s exit came just a week after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner quit over a tax error on a home purchase. A senior Starmer aide, Paul Ovenden quit Monday over tasteless text messages he sent years ago. Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer’s position at the helm of the Labour Party is fragile and his poll ratings are in the dumps.But he has found a somewhat unexpected supporter in Trump, who has said Starmer is a friend, despite being “slightly more liberal than I am.”Starmer’s government has cultivated that warmth and tried to use it to get favorable trade terms with the U.S., the U.K.’s largest single economic partner, accounting for 18% of total British trade.The May trade agreement reduces U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries. But a final deal has not been reached over other sectors, including pharmaceuticals, steel and aluminum.As he left the White House on Tuesday, Trump said U.K. officials wanted to continue trade negotiations during his visit.“They’d like to see if they can get a little bit better deal, so we’ll talk to them” he said.Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are expected to be among the business leaders in the U.S. delegation. Trump and Starmer are set to sign a technology partnership – which Mandelson was key to striking – accompanied by major investments in nuclear power, life sciences and Artificial Intelligence data centers.The leaders are also expected to sign nuclear energy deals, expand cooperation on defense technology and explore ways to bolster ties between their financial hubs, according to the White House official.Ukraine on the agendaStarmer has also tried to use his influence to maintain U.S. support for Ukraine, with limited results. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations.Last week’s Russian drone incursion into NATO member Poland drew strong condemnation from European NATO allies, and pledges of more planes and troops for the bloc’s eastern flank. Trump played down the incident’s severity, musing that it “ could have been a mistake.”Starmer also departs from Trump over Israel’s war in Gaza, and has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.Vinjamuri said Starmer “has kept the United States speaking the right language” on Ukraine, but has had little impact on Trump’s actions.“On China, on India, on Israel and Gaza and Hamas, and on Vladimir Putin – on the really big important things – the U.K. hasn’t had a huge amount of influence,” she said.
LONDON —President Donald Trump will arrive in the United Kingdom on Tuesday for a state visit during which the British government hopes a multibillion-dollar technology deal will show the trans-Atlantic bond remains strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of the Western alliance.
State visits in Britain blend 21st-century diplomacy with royal pageantry. Trump’s two-day trip comes complete with horse-drawn carriages, military honor guards and a glittering banquet inside a 1,000-year-old castle — all tailored to a president with a fondness for gilded splendor.
King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday before talks the next day with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the British leader’s rural retreat.
Starmer’s office said the visit will demonstrate that “the U.K.-U.S. relationship is the strongest in the world, built on 250 years of history” — after that awkward rupture in 1776 — and bound by shared values of “belief in the rule of law and open markets.” There was no mention of Trump’s market-crimping fondness for sweeping tariffs.
The White House expects the two countries will strengthen their relationship during the trip and celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, according to a senior White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear how the U.K. was planning to mark that chapter in their shared history.
“The trip to the U.K. is going to be incredible,” Trump told reporters Sunday. He said Windsor Castle is “supposed to be amazing” and added: “It’s going to be very exciting.”
Trump’s second state visit
Trump is the first U.S. president to get a second state visit to the U.K.
The unprecedented nature of the invitation, along with the expectation of lavish pomp and pageantry, holds dual appeal to Trump. The president has glowingly praised the king’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and spoken about how his own Scotland-born mother loved the queen and the monarchy.
Trump, as he left the White House on Tuesday, noted that during his past state visit he was hosted at Buckingham Palace.
“I don’t want to say one is better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate,” Trump said.
He also called the king “an elegant gentleman” and said “he represents the country so well.”
The president is also royally flattered by exceptional attention and has embraced the grandeur of his office in his second term. He has adorned the normally more austere Oval Office with gold accents, is constructing an expansive ballroom at the White House and has sought to refurbish other Washington buildings to his liking.
Foreign officials have shown they’re attuned to his tastes. During a visit to the Middle East this year, leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar didn’t just roll out a red carpet but dispatched fighter jets to escort Trump’s plane.
Starmer has already shown he’s adept at charming Trump. Visiting Washington in February, he noted the president’s Oval Office decorating choices and decision to display a bust of Winston Churchill. During Trump’s private trip to Scotland in July, Starmer visited and praised Trump’s golf courses.
Efforts to woo the president make some members of Starmer’s Labour Party uneasy, and Trump will not address Parliament during his visit, like French President Emmanuel Macron did in July. Lawmakers will be on their annual autumn recess, sparing the government an awkward decision.
The itinerary in Windsor and at Chequers, both well outside London, also keeps Trump away from a planned mass protest against his visit.
“This visit is really important to Keir Starmer to show that he’s a statesman,” said Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “But it’s such a double-edged sword, because he’s going to be a statesman alongside a U.S. president that is not popular in Europe.”
Troubles for Starmer
Preparations for the visit have been ruffled by political turmoil in Starmer’s center-left government. Last week, Starmer sacked Britain’s ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over his past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson had good relations with the Trump administration and played a key role in securing a U.K.-U.S. trade agreement in May. His firing has put Epstein back in British headlines as Trump tries to swerve questions about his own relationship with the disgraced financier.
Mandelson’s exit came just a week after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner quit over a tax error on a home purchase. A senior Starmer aide, Paul Ovenden quit Monday over tasteless text messages he sent years ago. Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer’s position at the helm of the Labour Party is fragile and his poll ratings are in the dumps.
But he has found a somewhat unexpected supporter in Trump, who has said Starmer is a friend, despite being “slightly more liberal than I am.”
Starmer’s government has cultivated that warmth and tried to use it to get favorable trade terms with the U.S., the U.K.’s largest single economic partner, accounting for 18% of total British trade.
The May trade agreement reduces U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries. But a final deal has not been reached over other sectors, including pharmaceuticals, steel and aluminum.
As he left the White House on Tuesday, Trump said U.K. officials wanted to continue trade negotiations during his visit.
“They’d like to see if they can get a little bit better deal, so we’ll talk to them” he said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are expected to be among the business leaders in the U.S. delegation. Trump and Starmer are set to sign a technology partnership – which Mandelson was key to striking – accompanied by major investments in nuclear power, life sciences and Artificial Intelligence data centers.
The leaders are also expected to sign nuclear energy deals, expand cooperation on defense technology and explore ways to bolster ties between their financial hubs, according to the White House official.
Ukraine on the agenda
Starmer has also tried to use his influence to maintain U.S. support for Ukraine, with limited results. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations.
Last week’s Russian drone incursion into NATO member Poland drew strong condemnation from European NATO allies, and pledges of more planes and troops for the bloc’s eastern flank. Trump played down the incident’s severity, musing that it “ could have been a mistake.”
Starmer also departs from Trump over Israel’s war in Gaza, and has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.
Vinjamuri said Starmer “has kept the United States speaking the right language” on Ukraine, but has had little impact on Trump’s actions.
“On China, on India, on Israel and Gaza and Hamas, and on Vladimir Putin – on the really big important things – the U.K. hasn’t had a huge amount of influence,” she said.
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London protest organized by far-right activist exceeds 100,000 as small clashes break out
A London march organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson drew more than 100,000 people and became unruly Saturday as a small group of his supporters clashed with police officers who were separating them from counterprotesters.Several officers were punched, kicked and struck by bottles tossed by people at the fringes of the “Unite the Kingdom” rally, Metropolitan Police said. Reinforcements with helmets and riot shields were deployed to support the 1,000-plus officers on duty.At least nine people were arrested, but police indicated that many other offenders had been identified and would be held accountable.Police estimated that Robinson drew about 110,000 people, while the rival “March Against Fascism” protest organized by Stand Up To Racism had about 5,000 marchers.Anti-migrant themeRobinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the nationalist and anti-Islam English Defense League and is one of the most influential far-right figures in Britain.The march was billed as a demonstration in support of free speech, with much of the rhetoric by influencers and several far-right politicians from across Europe aimed largely at the perils of migration, a problem much of the continent is struggling to control.“We are both subject to the same process of the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture, you and we are being colonized by our former colonies,” far-right French politician Eric Zemmour said.Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and owner of X, who has waded into British politics several times this year, was beamed in by video and condemned the left-leaning U.K. government.“There’s something beautiful about being British, and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion, but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration,” he said.Robinson told the crowd in a hoarse voice that migrants now had more rights in court than the “British public, the people that built this nation.”The marches come at a time when the U.K. has been divided by debate over migrants crossing the English Channel in overcrowded inflatable boats to arrive on shore without authorization.Numerous anti-migrant protests were held this summer outside hotels housing asylum-seekers following the arrest of an Ethiopian man who was later convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a London suburb. Some of those protests became violent and led to arrests.Sea of flagsParticipants in the “Unite the Kingdom” march carried the St. George’s red-and-white flag of England and the union jack, the state flag of the United Kingdom, and chanted, “We want our country back.”U.K. flags have proliferated this summer across the U.K. — at events and on village lampposts — in what some have said is a show of national pride and others said reflects a tilt toward nationalism.Supporters held signs saying “Stop the boats,” “Send them home” and “Enough is enough, save our children.”At the counterprotest, the crowd held signs saying “Refugees welcome” and “Smash the far right,” and shouted, “Stand up, fight back.”Robinson supporters chanted crude refrains about U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party, and also shouted messages of support for slain U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.Several speakers paid tribute to Kirk, who was remembered in a moment of silence, followed by a bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace.”One demonstrator held a sign saying: “Freedom of speech is dead. RIP Charlie Kirk.”Crowd covered blocks of LondonThe crowd at one point stretched from Big Ben across the River Thames and around the corner beyond Waterloo train station, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile (around a kilometer).The marches had been mostly peaceful, but toward the late afternoon, “Unite the Kingdom” supporters threw items at the rival rally and tried to break through barriers set up to separate the groups, police said. Officers had to use force to keep a crowd-control fence from being breached.Counterprotesters heckled a man with blood pouring down his face who was being escorted by police from the group of Robinson supporters. It was not immediately clear what happened to him.While the crowd was large, it fell far short of one of the biggest recent marches when a pro-Palestinian rally drew an estimated 300,000 people in November 2023.Robinson had planned a “Unite the Kingdom” rally last October, but could not attend after being jailed for contempt of court for violating a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating libelous allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him. He previously served jail time for assault and mortgage fraud.
LONDON —A London march organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson drew more than 100,000 people and became unruly Saturday as a small group of his supporters clashed with police officers who were separating them from counterprotesters.
Several officers were punched, kicked and struck by bottles tossed by people at the fringes of the “Unite the Kingdom” rally, Metropolitan Police said. Reinforcements with helmets and riot shields were deployed to support the 1,000-plus officers on duty.
At least nine people were arrested, but police indicated that many other offenders had been identified and would be held accountable.
Police estimated that Robinson drew about 110,000 people, while the rival “March Against Fascism” protest organized by Stand Up To Racism had about 5,000 marchers.
Anti-migrant theme
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the nationalist and anti-Islam English Defense League and is one of the most influential far-right figures in Britain.
The march was billed as a demonstration in support of free speech, with much of the rhetoric by influencers and several far-right politicians from across Europe aimed largely at the perils of migration, a problem much of the continent is struggling to control.
“We are both subject to the same process of the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture, you and we are being colonized by our former colonies,” far-right French politician Eric Zemmour said.
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and owner of X, who has waded into British politics several times this year, was beamed in by video and condemned the left-leaning U.K. government.
“There’s something beautiful about being British, and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion, but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration,” he said.
Robinson told the crowd in a hoarse voice that migrants now had more rights in court than the “British public, the people that built this nation.”
The marches come at a time when the U.K. has been divided by debate over migrants crossing the English Channel in overcrowded inflatable boats to arrive on shore without authorization.
Numerous anti-migrant protests were held this summer outside hotels housing asylum-seekers following the arrest of an Ethiopian man who was later convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a London suburb. Some of those protests became violent and led to arrests.
Sea of flags
Participants in the “Unite the Kingdom” march carried the St. George’s red-and-white flag of England and the union jack, the state flag of the United Kingdom, and chanted, “We want our country back.”
U.K. flags have proliferated this summer across the U.K. — at events and on village lampposts — in what some have said is a show of national pride and others said reflects a tilt toward nationalism.
Supporters held signs saying “Stop the boats,” “Send them home” and “Enough is enough, save our children.”
At the counterprotest, the crowd held signs saying “Refugees welcome” and “Smash the far right,” and shouted, “Stand up, fight back.”
Robinson supporters chanted crude refrains about U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party, and also shouted messages of support for slain U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Several speakers paid tribute to Kirk, who was remembered in a moment of silence, followed by a bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace.”
One demonstrator held a sign saying: “Freedom of speech is dead. RIP Charlie Kirk.”
Crowd covered blocks of London
The crowd at one point stretched from Big Ben across the River Thames and around the corner beyond Waterloo train station, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile (around a kilometer).
The marches had been mostly peaceful, but toward the late afternoon, “Unite the Kingdom” supporters threw items at the rival rally and tried to break through barriers set up to separate the groups, police said. Officers had to use force to keep a crowd-control fence from being breached.
Counterprotesters heckled a man with blood pouring down his face who was being escorted by police from the group of Robinson supporters. It was not immediately clear what happened to him.
While the crowd was large, it fell far short of one of the biggest recent marches when a pro-Palestinian rally drew an estimated 300,000 people in November 2023.
Robinson had planned a “Unite the Kingdom” rally last October, but could not attend after being jailed for contempt of court for violating a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating libelous allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him. He previously served jail time for assault and mortgage fraud.
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Migrant return flights to France set to start next week
The first deportation flights of migrants under the UK’s new returns deal with France are expected to begin next week, the BBC understands.
The ‘one in, one out’ pilot scheme was set up as part of a deal announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to the UK in July.
Dozens of migrants were detained in Dover last month under the agreement and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this week that they are are expected to be returned to France “imminently”.
It is understood that formal removal directions have been issued to asylum seekers to say they will be deported to France within five days.
In return, it was agreed that the UK will accept an equal number of asylum seekers who have not tried to cross and can pass security and eligibility checks.
At the announcement in early July, Starmer said the plan was a “product of months of grown-up diplomacy” which would “deliver real results”.
Critics, including the Conservatives, argue the policy would prove “unworkable and wide open to abuse”.
It is also understood that MPs will get a chance to question new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on the deal during Home Office questions in Parliament on Monday.
As of 8 September, 30,164 people had crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025, up from 22,440 for the same period in 2024.
[BBC]
Under the new treaty, published on 4 August, France agreed to take back adults or accompanied children who make a journey to the UK by small boat, once any asylum claim is withdrawn or declared inadmissible.
Both countries have agreed to work towards making transfers with three months after small boat arrivals have entered the UK.
Former home secretary Yvette Cooper stressed the scheme starting up was a trial.
Details of how people will apply to come to the UK from France under the treaty have also been published by the government.
Successful applicants will initially be granted the right to come to the UK for three months, to “consider how to regularise their stay”.
Applicants will apply online – but have to submit proof to the Home Office they are applying from within France.
The UK has agreed to pay the transportation costs both of those migrants it sends to France, and those it accepts back in return.
The policy is part of a number of measures unveiled by the Labour government in an attempt to tackle the small boats crossings from France.
In July, it announced that 25 people including gang leaders and small boat suppliers had had their assets frozen and been banned from travelling to the UK.
An extra 300 National Crime Agency officers will target the people-smugglers arranging the crossings, and a new Border Security Command body will work closely with the Home office, police, immigration enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The UK is also paying France almost £500m over three years – as agreed by the previous Conservative government – to fund extra officers on the French coast.
[BBC]
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