Trump says UK should consider using military to stop illegal immigration
Q: [From Jack Elsom from the Sun] To Trump, have you any advice for Starmer on immigration?
Trump says he has got illegal immigration into the US down to zero.
This was one of the issues that made him run for president.
He says he told Starmer to stop it. They could use the military, he suggests. But it does not matter how – you have to stop it.
Starmer says this is a problem across Europe. There have been 35,000 returns now – the highest number for years.
Today a flight went off at 6.15am taking the first person back to France under the new returns deal.
He says this is “proof of concept”, showing this can work.
Key events
Trump says he is willing to do more against Russia, but not if Europeans keep buying Russian oil
Q: Was it a mistake to invite Putin to Alaska? What action will you be taking against him now?
Starmer said there were some European countries that were “too reliant on energy from Russia”.
There was no silver bullet, he said.
He said it was important to put Ukraine in the strongest position now.
Trump said if the price of oil comes down, Putin “is going to have no choice, he’s going to drop out of that war”.
But European countries are buying oil from Russia, he said.
He said he had sanctioned India to get them to stop buying oil from Russia.
He went on:
I’m willing to do other things, but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia. If the oil price comes down, very simply, Russia will settle.
And that was the last question.
Trump claims not to know Mandelson, or why he was fired as ambassador to US
Q: [From Sky’s Beth Rigby] What was your reaction to Peter Mandelson being fired for his links with Jeffrey Epstein? Did you have some sympathy for him?
Trump says he does not know about that. He refers it to Starmer.
(At this point, on the BBC feed, the audio suddenly starts sounding crackly.)
Starmer says new information came to light, and Mandelson was removed. He swiftly moves on.
UPDATE: Here is Trump’s reply in full. He claimed not to know Mandelson – even though they had met a few times. Trump said:
I don’t know him, actually. I had heard that. I think maybe the prime minister would be better speaking of that. That was a choice that he made. I don’t know. [To Starmer] What is our answer to that?
Trump says Jimmy Kimmel fired for ‘bad ratings’ and ‘lack of talent’, claiming this not freedom of speech case
Q: [From ITV’s Robert Peston] To Trump – You alone have the power to stop Israel’s attack on Gaza. When will you?
Trump asks Peston if he understands what happened on 7 October.
Peston says he is a Jew, and he does.
Trump says the hostages have to be released first.
Q: Why do you back the firing of Jimmy Kimmel if you support free speech?
Trump says Kimmel was fired for “bad ratings”.
Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. So, you know, you can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.
Q: If you feel so strongly about recognising Palestine, why don’t you do it now, intead of waiting until Trump last left the country. And won’t this reward Hamas?
Starmer says he knows where he stands on Hamas. They are a terrorist group. He says the 7 October attack was the worst attack (on Jews) since the war.
And he says the Palestinian recognition decision is not related to the state visit.
Q: Is there any update on the autopen scandal?
(This is the Maga conspiracy theory that Joe Biden was not really taking decisions, and that his supposedly leftwing officials were running the country, using the White House autopen machine to get his signature on laws and orders.)
Trump gives a rambling answer arguing that Biden did not know what was happening. He says it is a shame that using the autopen was not illegal.
Q: Will you label antifa terrorists, as Trump has done?
Starmer says the UK will take decisions for itself. He will not comment on the president’s decisions.
Starmer invites Trump to call questions now. He calls Beverley Turner from GB News. She asks about free speech, and whether the UK is a Christian country.
Starmer says he was christened. He says the church has been part of his life, and is an informal part of this country’s constitution.
And he says he supports free speech, but thinks there must be limits.
Starmer urges Trump to increase pressure on Putin over Ukraine
Q: [From the Economist’s Matthew Holehouse] Have negotiations with Russia run out, and what are your next steps?
Trump says again Putin has let him down.
Russian soldiers are being killed at a faster rate than Ukrainians, he says.
He claims the Ukraine war would not have happened if he had been president.
He repeats the claim about stopping seven war.
Coming back to Ukraine, he says “I hope we’re going to have some good news for you coming up”.
Starmer says Trump needs to put pressure on Putin.
He says Putin is either emboldened, or reckless.
That is why allies need to ramp up action against him, he says.
European action, with a US guarantee, is an example of Europe stepping up to the plate.
Trump says at one point it was “heading to a third world war”. Now that is not the case.
Trump urges Starmer to use more oil and gas
Q: Why do you think you are right and Trump is wrong on energy?
Starmer says he has taken a mixed approach to energy – using renewables, but also continuing with oil and gas.
Starmer wants to move on, but Trump jumps in. He says his “drill, baby, drill” policy is right. And he attacks wind energy.
Trump says UK should consider using military to stop illegal immigration
Q: [From Jack Elsom from the Sun] To Trump, have you any advice for Starmer on immigration?
Trump says he has got illegal immigration into the US down to zero.
This was one of the issues that made him run for president.
He says he told Starmer to stop it. They could use the military, he suggests. But it does not matter how – you have to stop it.
Starmer says this is a problem across Europe. There have been 35,000 returns now – the highest number for years.
Today a flight went off at 6.15am taking the first person back to France under the new returns deal.
He says this is “proof of concept”, showing this can work.
