“I really felt it was going to end. But every time I think it’s going to end he kills people.
“I’m not so interested in talking [to him] anymore,” he added.
Ukraine swiftly praised the US President’s stand and thanked Trump for “standing firm and delivering a clear message of peace through strength”.
“When America leads with strength, others think twice,” Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on social media.
The comments came after Trump and Starmer held a bilateral meeting that focused on ending the suffering in Gaza and reviving stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Trump announced the US would set up walk-in “food centres” in Gaza.
Golf diplomacy
“We’re going to be getting some good strong food, we can save a lot of people. I mean, some of those kids – that’s real starvation stuff,” he said.
Starmer, under domestic pressure to follow France’s lead and recognise a Palestinian state, called the situation unfolding in Gaza an “absolute catastrophe”.
The pair also discussed the implementation of a UK-US trade deal that was signed on May 8 that lowered tariffs for certain UK exports but has yet to come into force.
Trump hosted Starmer and his wife Victoria under tight security at Turnberry, where he had spent two days playing golf since landing in Scotland on Friday night for a five-day visit.
Their talks came after the United States and the European Union reached a landmark deal to avert a full-blown trade war over tariffs, when EU chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Trump at the resort on Sunday.
Trump hinted that he would not impose heavy tariffs on British pharmaceuticals.
“We certainly feel a lot better with your country working on pharmaceuticals for America than some of the other countries,” he told Starmer.
“With the relationship we have, you would not use that as a cudgel. You wouldn’t be using it as a block,” he added.
Trump set out early in his second term to fulfil a decades-long desire of reshaping US trade with the world, with his administration predicting his aggressive strategy of punitive tariffs could bring “90 deals in 90 days”.
After months with very little to show, he is now enjoying some success, landing accords with Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and, most importantly, the European Union.
The deals are expected to kick in on August 1 to replace the current tariff regime these economies face, the White House told AFP.
After their meeting, Trump and Starmer were to travel to Aberdeen in Scotland’s northeast, where the US President is to open a new golf course at his resort on Tuesday.
Trump played golf at Turnberry on Saturday and Sunday (local time) on a five-day visit that has mixed leisure with diplomacy, and also further blurred the lines between the presidency and his business interests.
– Agence France-Presse
