Remarks transcript, Sep 22, 2026 (Donald Trump)

Well, thank you very much, everybody. It's an honor to be with the Prime Minister. He had a great election win. That was a big one. And he's going to be—I think he's going to be a great Prime Minister. I think he's got a lot of assets on his side.

And we talked about everything from Rolls-Royce to energy to immigration. We covered a lot, and we're with him. It's a special—it's a really special country, and we are with you all the way, Mr. Prime Minister.

Well, thank you, Mr. President. That's wonderful. We really appreciate that. This relationship matters so much to us, and we'll build on that relationship.

You and I have established a good connection in our——

Yes.

——early discussions, and we've taken that further today.

We've touched on Ukraine, and it's great to hear what you said today about the potential for progress there.

You know that we're still ready to play our part in the Middle East in terms of helping you stop the conflict, open the Strait. Obviously, we're with you that Iran must never be a nuclear power.

We accepted a call from Saudi Arabia, from the Foreign Secretary, for support. So, we are prepared to play our part. So we're there. We're there.

And obviously, you were good enough today to let us talk around some issues on trade, the Falklands that we mentioned, and you were good enough to listen to us on those issues, amongst others.

So it's been great to be with you and the team today. We really, really appreciate it.

Well, thank you very much.

So, Mr. President—Mr. President, do you think he's a man you can do business with despite your political differences?

Yes, I do. I think he's a natural businessperson. We've had a lot of discussions. Even before this meeting, we've spoken to each other numerous times on the phone.

Yes, I think so. I think so. He gets it. He understands what he has to do, and yes, I do think so.

What did you tell him about immigration?

He talked about immigration. What did he talk about? Pretty much like everyone else talked about immigration. [ Laughter ] It's—this is a worldwide situation, to a large extent. But he understands it.

I'd like to have him maybe discuss whatever he feels.

Immigration is a problem for many countries. I think we've, to a large extent, solved our problem. We have a very powerful border with 18 months now in a row where nobody came in illegally into our country.

They come in legally. They go through a whole testing process, et cetera. But nobody's come in—we've closed up a border that allowed 25 million people in over a 4-year period under the previous administration.

But if you'd like to say something about immigration.

Yes, thank you, Mr. President. I mentioned the fact that it was a very big issue at the Makerfield by-election, and a lot of the British media will know that, and I spoke about it then.

Our commitment is to get to a controlled approach. That's what people want to see. They're not against migration overall. They know that people work in the NHS and in the care system. It's a difference, though, when it's managed or when it's uncontrolled. And the small boats is a very big issue for people. Boat crossings this summer were down 50 percent, there or thereabouts, on the number 6 years ago. So sometimes people don't hear that the progress is being made, but the progress is being made.

And you know, we know we've got further to go. Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary are working with me on it, and we'll keep working on it. But that's a story that's not always out there. But we will continue to make sure we deal with it.

Mr. President——

Mr. President, on Iran, in your speech just now, you suggested that you would annihilate Iran. Do you expect Britain to help you with that?

And can I ask if you have any sympathy for the many allies, like the U.K., that are facing such pain on the cost of living, in part because of U.S. actions in Iran? Thank you.

Well, I think as soon as the war is over, the numbers are going to come way down—pricing, generally—because oil is the big thing. When the oil goes up—and we had to do that because we have to stop them, and I think we feel very united on that. We can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon.

And people understand that in the United States, and they're paying more than—less than Biden, by the way; less than the Biden administration, and yet he did nothing about the threat of nuclear terror. It's nuclear terror. Can't have it.

So we've stopped them from having a nuclear weapon. We've literally stopped them. They're not going to have a nuclear weapon, and we'll see what happens.

I think that a settlement is going to be reached. They want to talk to us. They have been talking to us. Even today they've been talking to us, and the relationship is developing, let's say. But we can't let them—and they understand that we can't let them have a nuclear weapon. And that's—there's a price to pay for that.

This should have been done by other Presidents or, frankly, other countries. You know? Some country could have stepped forward, but there aren't too many countries, frankly, that could have handled that.

So I think we've done a great job. They will not have a nuclear weapon.

Mr. President, Mr. President——

Sir, you just built—you—Mr. President, you just built a very strong case for patriotism over globalism, so I would ask your advice for the U.K. if we were to pursue that same vision.

And if I could ask Prime Minister Burnham, as well. Your predecessor famously said he was happier in Davos than Westminster. Are you happier in Manchester or Manhattan? [ Laughter ]

Oh, this is a—that's a risky question. I don't——

Well, do you want to go first? Go ahead. [ Laughter ]

Well, I like to remind the President every now and again that he called the great city of Manchester—you know it so well——

Bev's [Beverly Turner, GB News] a Mancunian, so——

Oh, right. She's great.

You once called it "some town," and you know, we don't hold it—I don't hold it against you, as the former mayor.

But obviously, I'm very much at home: Makerfield, Manchester, but here too. I love coming here.

But I'm patriotic as well, and, you know, I was explaining to the president today: Britain has been in too much turbulence, a sense of just not knowing where we're going. And I think you responded when I said we're going to lay out a plan for Britain, a 10-year direction. The country's got so much going for it, and it's time to turn the story about Britain into a positive story, get some hopefulness going around the country.

And I think you were saying today that very much is how you see it.

That's right.

And there's, you know, a great opportunity for us as we go forward.

Well, Bev always asks good questions, but I think there's a tremendous patriotism in Britain. And you call it United Kingdom, Britain. They call it sometimes England. They go back to the old—it's got more names than any other place in the world, right? [ Laughter ] And sometimes they have to be educated as to what.

But there's great patriotism in the country. They want to see great things happen. Tremendous potential.

Yes.

I mean, I see some countries and I'm with the leaders, and I don't say it but I don't see a lot of potential. They've got a tough row to hoe. This is a country with great patriotism—they love the country. The people love the country as much as any other country I can think of.

And I think it's just waiting for success—waiting for good leadership, waiting for success.

Yes, please.

Mr. President—two questions, if I could. One related to the U.K. and one related to the press issue. If the district court decides against you, will you let the three media outlets back in? And——

Well, probably will because this is a judge who's not a particularly fair judge, so you never know.

But I'm talking about national security. I think we have a right to clean out fake news, you know, if news is fake.

And by the way, they said they weren't going to be here, but they came. You know, I knew that would happen. What are they—not going to be with President Xi tomorrow?

So—but they said, "We will not cover Trump."

This is something you don't have to know about. [ Laughter ] You don't have to—you won't have this problem.

But no, we have a lot of fake news. And I think when news is fake, and it's actually dangerous, I think we have a right to clear it out.

How is it dangerous? Could you just elaborate how is—how are these news media outlets dangerous?

Oh, when they'll make statements about the war. When they make false statements—false, malicious—and they don't have sources, but they say they do.

No, no, it's very dangerous for our country, and I won't stand for it.

And then, on the U.K., so to—earlier this month, the U.K. sanctioned certain settlement organizations in the West Bank. What did you think of that move? Did you discuss it? What did you think of it?

Well, I don't know about the move. Do you know about the move?

Yes. Obviously, we took that decision, the Foreign Secretary and I, and, you know, we did call you just to say why we'd taken that.

You know, I take this view on this issue: We've all spoken over the years about the importance of a two-state solution. If we face a situation where there's a tendency to put settlements on the West Bank that, in effect, make a two-state solution nonviable, what do we do?

Because if we do nothing, then it further erodes people's trust in politics. They think: "Well, you're all talk when it comes to it. You're not prepared to follow up on that talk and—and do something."

You know, we condemned the Hamas attacks of 7th of October completely, and we will challenge anti-Semitism wherever we see it.

That is true. A very strong condemnation.

Completely.

But, on that issue, you know, we targeted action—the Foreign Secretary proposed on the—banning the imports of goods from the from the settlements, because you, at the end of the day, have to have meaning behind your words. Otherwise, trust in politics further evaporates.

And Mr. President——

Okay. Yes, please.

The Chagos deal, Mr. President—are you going to support it?

The what?

The deal to give away the Chagos Islands from the U.K. to Mauritius?

Oh. I don't support it. I think it's terrible. It was a terrible deal. They all of a sudden say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it's ridiculous.

No, we were talking about that. And it's strategically very important. Very important. You know, we had to send our B–2 bombers when we bombed the Iran nuclear. We had to send the B–2 bombers back home to Missouri. As opposed to flying for a short period of time, they had to fly for a long period of time.

It's amazing how strategic it is, and I think the Prime Minister is going to be looking at it.

Yes.

It's a very, very strategic location. Amazing. Just—and it's unique. I said, "Well, we could get something else." Actually, it's a very unique—it's a very important piece of real estate, militarily and strategically.

Yes, right behind.

Mr. President, relations between the U.S. and the U.K. been a little bit up and down lately——

No, I think they're up. [ Laughter ]

What sort of state would you say they're in now?

Well, they're more up now than they were with your last Prime Minister. Let me put it that way. Substantially.

You're getting on well?

But even in that—I mean, we took care—we made a deal that nobody else could make with Rolls-Royce. We made sure that Rolls-Royce was being properly taken care of. We didn't force them to do things like, you know, you build the Rolls-Royces in Brooklyn, New York. [ Laughter ].

We didn't do that. We had—Scott, right? We had a lot of decisions to make with respect to age-old companies with great reputations that were made in your country for years. And you know, we made we made a lot of concessions.

But no, I think right now—based on my relationship with your Prime Minister, Andy—I think that—I think we're doing very well.

Okay. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you, everybody.