President Trump arrived Thursday morning at Chequers estate near London to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss issues including trade, commerce and defense.
Mr. Trump was greeted by Mr. Starmer and his wife, Victoria, along with another ceremonial guard of honor and bagpipers, when he arrived at Chequers — a 16th-century manor house that prime ministers use as a rural retreat and more informal venue for international talks.
Mr. Starmer and Mr. Trump are expected to finalize the trade agreement or “economic prosperity deal” between the U.S. and the U.K. hammered out in May.
Additionally, both leaders will likely tackle sensitive details related to the 25% tariffs on British steel and aluminum that the U.K. is urging the U.S. to slash to zero.
“They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit,” Mr. Trump told reporters earlier on Tuesday on Air Force One. “We’ve made a deal, and it’s a great deal, and I’m into helping them.”
He added, “They’d like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we’ll talk to them.”
Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Starmer comes at a time when the prime minister’s popularity in the U.K. is low, and he is fighting for his political survival within the Labor Party.
On the foreign policy side, the continuing wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine are also likely to be on the schedule.
A group of top tech-company CEOs joined Mr. Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday to reveal a $42 billion tech development deal in the U.K., in hopes it will urge Britain to repeal stringent digital regulations against U.S. tech companies.
The tech delegation includes: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and corporate leaders.
The deal includes new U.K. spending by Nvidia and Microsoft and ensures an “AI growth zone” in economically struggling northeast Britain.
Under the agreement, the U.K. and the U.S. will put both nations’ resources and expertise into making emerging technologies a shared success for the British and American people, a U.K. government statement said.
This will include the application of artificial intelligence, nuclear and quantum technologies across areas such as life science, defense and the space industry.
As part of the agreement, the U.K. and the U.S. will unite to forge joint research schemes to further the use of AI to allow for targeted treatments and other shared priorities such as fusion energy.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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