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
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Closing summary
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Sadiq Khan says Trump’s presidency is leading record numbers of Americans to apply for British citizenship
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Farage joins Badenoch in citing Argentinian president Javier Milei as economic role model
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‘That’s real starvation stuff – I see it, and you can’t fake that’ – Trump insists starvation crisis in Gaza real
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Starmer joins Trump on Air Force One for flight to Aberdeenshire
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Stop Trump Coalition claims some US citizens ‘deeply grateful’ to Scottish campaigners for protests against president
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Starmer and Reeves should prepare UK for wealth tax, say top economists
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Starmer defends investing in wind turbines, after Trump wrongly claims it is most expensive form of energy
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Trump says US to be involved in setting up ‘food centres’ in Gaza
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Trump claims he hasn’t been ‘overly interested’ about controversy about his links to sex offender Jeffery Epstein
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Trump claims nobody has suggested to him giving Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon
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Trump suggests he could be invited to address parliament on further trip, after state visit
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Starmer describes London mayor Sadiq Khan as a ‘friend’, after Trump calls him ‘nasty person’
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Starmer says Turnberry ‘magnificent’, but it is not for UK government to decide if it hosts the Open again
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Starmer says Online Safety Act will not censor Trump’s Truth Social social media company
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Trump declines to commit to exempting Scotch whisky from US tariffs
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Trump says he wants Putin to agree ceasefire in Ukraine within 12 days
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Trump and Starmer hold second Q&A with reporters
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Trump says he knows ‘nothing’ about small boats – but claims most people arriving on them probably ‘bad people’
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Starmer thanks Trump for his work towards getting ceasefire in Gaza
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Trump claims his presence in White House has halted or prevented six wars around world
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Trump does not endorse Netanyahu’s claim there is no starvation in Gaza
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Trump says he is not familiar with small boats problem, but praises Starmer for his ‘very strong’ stance on migration
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Starmer arrives at Turnberry for talks with Trump
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Reform UK say it would repeal Online Safety Act, calling it ‘greatest assault on freedom of speech in our lifetimes’
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Swinney ducks question about cost of policing Trump’s visit to Scotland, but says VIP visitors must be protected
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Swinney says SNP need majority in next year’s Holyrood elections to hold second independence referendum
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John Swinney says he will use meeting with Trump to ask for Scotch whisky to be exempt from US tariffs
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Former senior detective to join Reform UK as crime adviser
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Reynolds rejects Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim recognition of Palestinian statehood would reward Hamas terrorism
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Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds says he does not expect Trump/Starmer talks to lead to trade announcement today
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UK is stuck in a ‘debt doom loop’, says top investor
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Starmer to meet Trump to discuss Gaza and trade, as minister suggests UK could recognise Palestinian state by next election
Closing summary
This blog is now closing. Thank you for following along. Below is a roundup of some of our top stories.
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Donald Trump told Israel to allow “every ounce of food” into Gaza as he acknowledged for the first time that there is “real starvation” in the region. During a visit to Britain, the US president contradicted Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister claimed it was a “bold-faced lie” to say Israel was causing hunger in Gaza.
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Sadiq Khan said a record number of Americans were applying for British citizenship after Donald Trump called him a “nasty person”. A spokesperson for the London mayor said: “Sadiq is delighted that President Trump wants to come to the greatest city in the world. He’d see how our diversity makes us stronger not weaker; richer, not poorer. Perhaps these are the reasons why a record number of Americans have applied for British citizenship under his presidency.”
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Donald Trump claimed people crossing the Channel are probably “bad people”, despite admitting he knows “nothing” about small boats. He said: “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.”
Libby Brooks
On Monday afternoon, about 100 protesters gathered in Balmedie, the closest village to Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “You are not welcome here”.
Kay Collin, a retired modern studies teacher, said she had made the trip from Edinburgh today because of her grandchildren. “Watching what is happening in Gaza, if it was happening to my grandchildren I would hope other people would stand up for them.”
While many people cited the starvation crisis in Gaza as the most urgent reason for their protest, Trump’s policies on immigration, transgender rights and cuts to international aid as well as his misogyny and bullying behaviour more generally were all variously referenced on placards and in chants.
Jenna Harpin, from Portsoy, further north along the coast, said she was “disgusted” at how much money was being spent by the Scottish and UK governments on hosting Trump’s visit, especially as a time when local councils were making cuts to vital services.
The protesters marched through the village, as the police presence swelled I anticipation of Trump’s arrival at the resort later this afternoon. Local access has been significantly restricted with lines of police officers blocking off the beach and snipers spotted on the dunes.
Protesters also expressed disappointment at Scotland’s first minster John Swinney, who is expected to have an official meeting with the US president on Tuesday and is reportedly joining him for a private dinner with Starmer on Monday.
Sadiq Khan says Trump’s presidency is leading record numbers of Americans to apply for British citizenship
Andrew Sparrow
Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump after the president’s comment’s about him today. (See 2.44pm.) A spokesperson for the London mayor said:
Sadiq is delighted that President Trump wants to come to the greatest city in the world.
He’d see how our diversity makes us stronger not weaker; richer, not poorer.
Perhaps these are the reasons why a record number of Americans have applied for British citizenship under his presidency.
That is all from me for today. Sammy Gecsoyler is taking over now.
Farage joins Badenoch in citing Argentinian president Javier Milei as economic role model
Last week, in an interview with the Financial Times, Kemi Badenoch said that her political role model was the Argentinian president Javier Milei, the rightwing politician who campaigns with a chainsaw to show his commitment to cutting government spending. Asked if Britain needed a Milei, and if she was that sort of politician, Badenoch replied: “Yes and yes.” She also said: “Milei is the template.”
At his press conference this morning, the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he also wanted to follow the Milei model. When it was put to him that his proposals for tax cuts were just as unrealistic as Liz Truss’s were, he said Truss did not have any spending cuts in her mini-budget. He went on:
It’s funny, but the chap in Argentina has cut the public sector workforce by 15% and we’re now witnessing Argentina really – for the first time in 100 years, after just decline, decline, decline, devaluation, default – we’re now witnessing, I think, the beginnings of an economic miracle which is happening in Argentina.
It is incumbent upon us between now and the next election to explain to you and everybody else how we will reduce the size of the state sector and get more efficiency into our public services.
I accept I haven’t got the full answers on that right now, but it is a direction of travel.
Milei is credited with reducing Argentina’s hyper-inflation, but his politicies have also led to a sharp increase in poverty.
‘That’s real starvation stuff – I see it, and you can’t fake that’ – Trump insists starvation crisis in Gaza real
At one point during his Q&As with Keir Starmer, Donald Trump insisted that starvation was happening in Gaza, despite Israeli claims to the contrary. (See 12.52pm and 1.26pm.) At another point, referring to his plan for food centres (see 3.39pm), he said:
We can save a lot of people. Some of those kids – that’s real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can’t fake that. So we’re going to be even more involved.
And this is from Laura Webster, editor of the National, the pro-independence Scottish paper.
So many people are getting in touch asking if they can get back copies of Friday’s paper
The answer is no … we are completely sold out. Everywhere.
You can order a poster version here though! https://t.co/8OIME6BTPU
— Laura Webster (@LauraEWebsterr) July 28, 2025
This is from my colleague Eleni Courea, who has been at Trump Turnberry today.
Keir Starmer said that the government has removed 35,000 people from the UK since Labour took office. (See 1.35pm.)
In a post on social media, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK, suggests this figure is misleading.
The PM says his government has removed 35,000 people who shouldn’t be here.
But even the BBC admits most of them left of their own free will.
How many boat migrants have you deported @Keir_Starmer?
Starmer joins Trump on Air Force One for flight to Aberdeenshire
Keir Starmer is flying with Donald Trump on Air Force One to Aberdeenshire.
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana say that 500,000 people have signed up to say they are interested in the new party that the two leftwingers are setting up. The initiative was only announced last week.
Downing Street has issued its readout of the Trump/Starmer meeting. It focuses on Gaza (two paragraphs), while also mentioning Ukraine and trade (one paragraph each).
Here are the Gaza paragraphs.
The leaders began by discussing the appalling scenes in Gaza and agreed that urgent action was needed to bring an end to the suffering, which has reached new depths. Humanitarian aid had to be allowed in at scale and pace. They committed to work together to bring an end to the misery and starvation and continue to press for the immediate release of the remaining hostages, who have been held so cruelly for so long.
They reiterated their calls for an immediate ceasefire to pave the way for peace in the region and the prime minister welcomed the president’s efforts to secure this, and shared the plans he is working on with other European leaders to bring about a lasting peace.
Stop Trump Coalition claims some US citizens ‘deeply grateful’ to Scottish campaigners for protests against president
A hundred or so protesters against Donald Trump have listened to speeches at a demonstration in Balmedie, close to the US president’s Menie golf resort in Aberdeenshire, PA Media reports. PA says:
The demonstrators, many carrying signs and banners with anti-Trump slogans, were addressed by disability rights campaigners, a member of the CND and a local activist.
Alena Ivanova of the Stop Trump Coalition, the group behind the protest, also told the crowd they had been “inundated” with support from US citizens following Saturday’s protests in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
She said: “We were inundated by messages on our social media and on email from US citizens deeply, deeply grateful to the people of Scotland for showing up for them, for showing up for the migrants in the States, for showing up for the people of Palestine, for the people that are being genocided right now, for showing up for our common humanity.
“And this is what we are here to do again, and this is what we will keep gathering to do for as long as it takes.”
Following the speeches, the crowd were led in a series of anti-Trump chants before heading off to an area on the coast nearer to the Menie course.
