Trump wraps up UK state visit with gratitude for his hosts while largely sidestepping tough issues

AYLESBURY, England (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was “tremendously thankful” for the pageantry and splendor lavished on him during his second state visit to the United Kingdom as he wrapped up a trip that largely sidestepped major public disagreements over difficult trade and geopolitical issues.

The mutual warmth, along with Trump's abundance of kind words bestowed on the host country, suggested that an all-out charm offensive by the royal family and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had its desired effect, even though there was a notable lack of progress on some key matters.

Trump and Starmer signed what both sides hailed as a historic agreement on science and technology, and they held a roundtable with global business leaders where they suggested the deal could mean significant job gains. Among the topics tackled mostly in private talks between Trump and Starmer were the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and U.S. tariff rates on steel imported from Britain.

"The bond between our countries is like no other anywhere in the world,” Trump said at a news conference at Chequers, the 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders. The U.S. and U.K., the American president said, have “done more good for the planet than any other nation in history.”

Joining in the bonhomie, Starmer said that "time and time again, it is British and American men and women, side by side, changing the path of history and turning it towards our values, towards freedom, democracy and the rule of law.”

The very end of the trip saw Trump’s helicopter carrying him from Chequers to the airport at Stansted for his flight to Washington make an unscheduled landing at a local airfield due to what the White House called a “minor hydraulic issue.” No one was injured, and a backup chopper completed the journey.

The Trump-Starmer mutual admiration followed King Charles III and Queen Camilla's feting of Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday with all the pomp the monarchy can muster, including the biggest military honor guard ever assembled for a state visit.

Trump called the king and queen “two fantastic people" and said he was" “tremendously thankful” and “grateful beyond words" for the hospitality.

Even high-profile points of dissent, such as Britain's impending move to recognize a Palestinian state, stayed cordial. “I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score,” Trump said, adding that "it's one of our few disagreement, actually.”

When Trump was asked about his lack of progress in brokering a deal to end Moscow's war in Ukraine and he acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ”let me down," Starmer escalated the flattery a notch. The prime minister said he and Trump had discussed how to "decisively increase the pressure on Putin” and that Trump had “led the way here.”

There was disagreement, too, over immigration policy.

Trump urged Britain to take a harder line and insisted he had made clear to Starmer that when too many people enter illegally, it “destroys countries from within." Still, when Starmer sharply criticized Hamas, Trump reached over from his podium and slapped the prime minister on the back in support.

At an earlier signing ceremony for the agreement meant to promote tech investment, Starmer referred to the Republican president as “my friend, our friend” and spoke of “leaders who respect each other and leaders who genuinely like each other.”

The Trumps' final day in Britain began by bidding farewell to the king and queen at Windsor Castle and flying by helicopter to Chequers for more spectacle: a ceremonial honor guard with bagpipers, in a nod to Trump's Scottish heritage, and a parachute demonstration. He also was shown the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term “special relationship” for the bond between the allies.

It's something Trump’s British hosts have stressed repeatedly, almost 250 years after that relationship endured a rocky start in 1776.

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.

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 products including Britain’s largest supercomputer.

British officials said 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.

There was less movement on tariffs.

In May, Starmer and Trump said they had agreed to reduce U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries. Talks on lowering duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current level of 25% have stalled even with a promise four months ago of a settlement within weeks.

Trump was asked in a Fox News Channel interview, taped in London and aired while he flew home, whether he would be willing to decrease tariffs on U.K. steel. He was noncommittal, saying, “We're making a lot of money.”

The British government has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinian civilians. Starmer said the situation was “a humanitarian catastrophe” as he acknowledged a divide with the president on recognizing a Palestinian state.

While the prime minister has played a major part in European efforts to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine, Trump's visit offered few major advancements. Trump even insisted at one point, that the conflict "doesn’t affect the U.S.”

The president has expressed frustration with Putin, but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia. The king, in his state banquet speech Wednesday night, offered Trump a gentle nudge, noting “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”

It seemed like questions about Jeffrey Epstein would dog Trump throughout the trip, especially given that his visit began days after 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.

But Trump largely avoided the issue. Police did arrest four people over a stunt that saw an image of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein projected on a tower at Windsor Castle.

Asked about Mandelson during the news conference, Trump said only that he did not know the former ambassador, despite photographs showing the pair together in the Oval Office.

Weissert reported from Washington. AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump attends a joint press conference with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (Leon Neal, Pool via AP)

President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer gesture next to first lady Melania Trump and Victoria Starmer after watching a display by the British Parachute Regiment's "Red Devils" display team at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump gestures next to Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a joint press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer attend a joint press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump, foreground right is greeted by Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria, as he visits the prime minister's country residence Chequers, near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (Ian Vogler/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump arrives for a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, right, stand next to Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla as they bid their farewells during Donald Trump's departure from Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump meets Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smile, holding a memorandum of understanding between the governments of the two countries after a business roundtable at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Britain's King Charles III, left, formally bids farewell to US President Donald Trump at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England, Thursday Sept. 18, 2025. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump, left, is greeted by Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he visits the prime minister's country residence Chequers, near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (Ian Vogler/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump waves next to Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer upon arriving at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, arrives for a State Banquet at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England, Sept. 17, 2025. (Phil Noble/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Britain's King Charles speak during the State Banquet in Windsor Castle, England, on day one of U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump's second state visit to the UK, Wednesday Sept. 17, 2025. (Yui Mok/PA via AP, Pool Photo via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and wife, Lady Victoria Starmer, arrive for the Beating Retreat military ceremony at Windsor Castle, England, on Wednesday Sept. 17, 2025, day one of the president's second state visit to the UK. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP, Pool)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend their visit to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England, Wednesday Sept. 17, 2025. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic Republic.

Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “All options remain on the table for the president.”

Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The sound of gunfire faded Thursday in the capital, Tehran. The country closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.

Here is the latest:

Masih Alinejad, one of the most vocal Iranian dissidents in the U.S., accused the United Nations and the Security Council of failing “to respond with the urgency this moment demands” at the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday.

In October, two purported Russian mobsters were each sentenced to 25 years behind bars for hiring a hitman to kill Alinejad at her Brooklyn home on behalf of the Iranian government.

Sitting across the table from the Iranian ambassador to the U.N., Alinejad, who came after an invitation from the U.S., said that “the members of this body have forgotten the privilege and responsibility of sitting in this room.”

Ahead of the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Secretary-General António Guterres

spoke by phone to discuss the recent deadly protests and Iran’s request for the world body to do more to condemn what they call foreign influence in the Islamic Republic, according to a readout of the call posted on Iranian state TV.

The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that Araghchi implored the top U.N. official to live up to the “serious expectation” that Iran’s government and its people have of the U.N.s’ role in condemning what the officials called “illegal U.S. interventions against Iran.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that U.S. President Donald Trump and his team had communicated to Iranian officials that there would be “grave consequences” if killing continues against protesters in Iran.

“The president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday, were halted,” she said.

But Trump continues closely watching the situation, she said.

“All options remain on the table for the president,” Leavitt said.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said on Thursday that “criminal gangs” were responsible for the situation in Iran, accusing them of carrying out an “American-Israeli” scheme.

“Criminal gangs in Iran killed Iranian citizens, security forces and burned mosques,” he said without providing evidence. “What’s being committed by criminal gangs in Iran is horrific, bearing an American stamp as it includes slaughter and burning some people alive.”

He also said that the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Iran to create a crisis leading to the current issues in the country with the end goal of controlling Iran.

Yet he said the U.S. has “failed in Iran” and that Iranians “will not yield to America.”

The president of the European Union’s executive arm says the 27-member bloc is looking to strengthen sanctions against Iran as ordinary Iranians continue their protests against Iran’s theocratic government.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday following a meeting of the EU’s commissioners in Limassol, Cyprus that current sanctions against Iran are “weakening the regime.”

Von der Leyen said that the EU is looking to sanction individual Iranians —apart from those who belong to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard — who “are responsible for the atrocities.”

She added that the people of Iran who are “bravely fighting for a change” have the EU’s “full political support.”

Canada’s foreign minister says a Canadian citizen has died in Iran “at the hands of the Iranian authorities.”

“Peaceful protests by the Iranian people — asking that their voices be heard in the face of the Iranian regime’s repression and ongoing human rights violations — has led the regime to flagrantly disregard human life,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted on social media Thursday.

“This violence must end. Canada condemns and calls for an immediate end to the Iranian regime’s violence,” she added.

Anand said consular officials are in contact with the victim’s family in Canada. She did not provide details.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Thursday that a local staff member was killed and several others were wounded during the deadly protests in Iran over the weekend.

Amir Ali Latifi, an Iranian Red Crescent Society worker, was working in the country’s Gillan province on Jan. 10 when he was killed “in the line of duty,” the organization said in a statement.

“The IFRC is deeply concerned about the consequences of the ongoing unrest on the people of Iran and is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Iranian Red Crescent Society,” the statement continued.

U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “good news” reports that the death sentence has been lifted for an Iranian shopkeeper arrested in a violent crackdown on protests.

Relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani had said he faced imminent execution.

Trump posed Thursday on his Truth Social site: “FoxNews: ‘Iranian protester will no longer be sentenced to death after President Trump’s warnings. Likewise others.’ This is good news. Hopefully, it will continue!”

Iranian state media denied Soltani had been condemned to death. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.

Trump sent tensions soaring this week by pledging that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters and urging them to continue demonstrating against authorities in the Islamic Republic.

On Wednesday Trump signaled a possible de-escalation, saying he had been told that “the killing in Iran is stopping.”

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union’s main foreign policy chief said the G7 members were “gravely concerned” by the developments surrounding the protests, and that they “strongly oppose the intensification of the Iranian authorities’ brutal repression of the Iranian people.”

The statement, published on the EU’s website Thursday, said the G7 were “deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” and condemned “the deliberate use of violence” by Iranian security forces against protesters.

The G7 members “remain prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests and dissent in violation of international human rights obligations,” the statement said.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with his counterpart in Iran, who said the situation was “now stable,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Abbas Araghchi said “he hoped China will play a greater role in regional peace and stability” during the talks, according to the statement from the ministry.

“China opposes imposing its will on other countries, and opposes a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Wang said.

“China believes that the Iranian government and people will unite, overcome difficulties, maintain national stability, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” he added. “China hopes all parties will cherish peace, exercise restraint, and resolve differences through dialogue. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard.”

“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”

Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.

Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.

Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.

Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.

Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,

Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.

“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.

Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.

Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.

The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.

Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.

A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.

Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.

State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.

“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.

“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.

Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.

Women cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)