Trump in Scotland: Gaza experiencing ‘real starvation’ says US President

0:02Hi, I'm Charlie Duffield and welcome back to the Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk Coming up later in the show, what lies ahead for England's Lionesses after their Euro 2025 football victory? The interesting thing that we'll see over this sort of next two years is how does this team evolve? Beekman is a coach. She's been with England five years now. She will be thinking about that and she's not the sort of manager who will kind of rest on her laurels. She'll be looking to the next thing.

0:41But first, today Sir Keir Starmer met Donald Trump in Scotland on the final day of the US president's golfing holiday to hold talks discussing trade and the war in Gaza. It comes after a US-EU trade deal was confirmed yesterday. The two politicians have built rapport on the world stage, despite their different political backgrounds. And previously, Trump only had warm words to say about Starmer. I like your prime minister. He's slightly more liberal than I am, as you've probably heard. But he's a good man. He got a trade deal done. And, you know, they've been working on this deal for 12 years.

1:20He got it done. It's a good deal. It's a good deal for the UK. The Gaza ceasefire is top of the agenda. But when asked about recognising Palestine as a state, Trump said he wouldn't take a position on it. He claimed that if he were not in office, there would be six wars taking place and cast doubt on whether Hamas will ever release the remaining Israeli hostages. He went on to say that more aid needs to get into Gaza and that the US will set up food centres in conjunction with some very good people. He said, we have to get the kids fed, so we've been sending in a lot of food. Trump added that he is speaking to Benjamin Netanyahu and they are coming up with various plans, but it's a very difficult situation.

2:05The Prime Minister struck a more critical line on Israel's actions over the besieged strip, stressing that people in Britain are revolted over the scenes of hunger. President, Prime Minister Netanyahu said there's no starvation in Gaza. Do you agree with that assessment? I don't know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children were very hungry, but we're giving a lot of money and a lot of food, and other nations are now stepping up. I know that this nation is. It's a humanitarian crisis. It's an absolute catastrophe. People in Britain are revolted at what they're seeing on their screens.

2:41So we've got to get to that ceasefire. Thank you, Mr. President, for leading on that, and also to just get more and more aid in. And again, America's done a lot on this. A lot of countries have done a lot. We're now working with Jordan on getting direct aid drop-seeing. This is a desperate situation. More than 100 aid agencies have warned of mass starvation in the growing crisis. Talk also turned to migration, with Trump stating that he knows nothing about the small boats, but claims most people arriving on them are probably bad people. Joining me now is The Standards' Chief Political Correspondent, Rachel Burford.

3:18So, Rachel, we're chatting now and these talks are still ongoing, but tell me what the agenda for today is. Top of the agenda for the talks will be pushing for that ceasefire in Gaza. Starmer is now under a lot of pressure to get something done finally about what's going on, the sort of humanitarian crisis that has really caught headlines across the world now, starving children, the fact aid is not getting into Gaza and into the Palestinian people that need it. Donald Trump has expressed his frustration with Benjamin Netanyahu about ceasefire plans and the war not going the way that the US necessarily wants it to.

3:55He sort of stopped short of criticising Israel as much as the UK government has in recent days. And he's also talked about the hostages that Hamas still hold and Trump is really sort of pushing for the return of those as well. I think at the moment they do seem to have, you know, quite a good relationship and that is something that Keir Starmer is certainly working, it seems, to keep Donald Trump on side. Aside from the Gaza ceasefire, what else will the leaders discuss? The discussions will also cover the US-UK trade deals and Iran and the war in Ukraine. The US and the European Union have agreed a trade deal sort of ending this months-long standoff.

4:33That was done in Scotland yesterday. The US and the EU have agreed a US tariff of 15 % on all EU goods. Starmer has thanked Trump for the discussions they've had so far on tariffs and trade and saying that they're going to continue. There's going to be a lot of talk about the US trade tariffs because Trump has been sort of kind of all over the place with just slapping tariffs on goods from not just the UK but all over the world and the UK has got off better than a lot of other countries. Those talks are certainly going to be a main talking point between Trump and Starmer over the next day or so.

5:09How much influence does Donald Trump actually have? And Trump certainly thinks he has the power to get a ceasefire in Gaza. When he arrived earlier today, he sort of had an impromptu press conference with reporters and he claimed that if he weren't in office, there would have been six wars taking place. He sort of referred to the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia and claimed his intervention and his threat to seize trade talks and things like that led to a ceasefire and said he's also made a difference in Serbia and Kosovo and cites sort of peace deals between African nations and things like that.

5:44But the words he used were, he said, if he wasn't around, you'd have right now six major wars going on. India would be fighting with Pakistan. He also said he certainly thinks that he has the power. America has such a massive influence over Israel, provide a lot of money to Israel, are very closely aligned with Israel and the Israeli government. So Trump, he's already expressed his disappointment in Netanyahu over certain things. And he has sort of talked about the humanitarian crisis that is going on in Gaza at the moment and that something does need to be done. So I think Trump certainly is pushing more than he was before for a ceasefire and certainly thinks that if anyone can get one, he can.

6:23But he's also outlined several times today that Hamas need to return the 20 hostages they're still holding in Gaza. And that is a major sticking point. And that is something that needs to be done. And he also spoke about migration in Europe, didn't he? The president has talked a lot about immigration and immigration to Europe. And we see sort of small boats crisis and the amount of people now coming to Europe and to Britain. A lot of that is driven by wars in other parts of the world. It does have a sort of knock-on effect. Trump in typical Trump style has had some quite stark words on migration in Europe.

6:56He said, Europe is going to be a much different place than it was five or ten years ago if we don't get our act together. I think of the words he used. And he sort of said, you're not going to have a Europe anymore. This is something that cabinet ministers slapped down this morning saying we're not being invaded and they rejected that sort of invasion word that Donald Trump has used several times about the migration crisis. Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, it was a nail-biting final match to remember. But once the celebrations are over, how can England's lionesses continue their winning streak?

7:33We'll see you back here in just a moment.

7:43Welcome back. Now England's history-making lionesses are champions of Europe once again, after they defended the Women's Euros title with a dramatic win over Spain yesterday. Chloe Kelly scored the winning spot kick following two huge saves from goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, resulting in a 3-1 win on penalties. Here's what coach Serena Wiegmann had to say about the match. I actually can't believe it myself. Yeah, I was like, oh, how can this happen? But it happened. So, yeah, very happy. I'm so incredibly proud of the team and the staff. And yeah, we're just going to party tonight. Yeah, I must admit that I always think this is the most chaotic and ridiculous tournament we have played.

8:26And every time we could come back because quarterfinal, semifinal, now the final we came behind. Of course, we have players that have talent. And the togetherness of this team is really, really incredible. But also the belief that we can come back and that the players say we can win by any means. And we just never, ever give up. And last night, the Lionesses were certainly out celebrating in style.

9:08But what lies ahead for the comeback queens? And do they have a shot at the World Cup in 2027? Joining us now is The Standards football writer Simon Collings. Simon, first of all, what did you make of yesterday's final? I feel like the whole tournament we've assumed England would go out and they've managed to keep staying in and somehow snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It was similar to the Sweden game and the Italy game where England would probably admit themselves Obviously, they didn't play as well as they can, but through kind of grit, determination, spirit, character, they managed to find a way to win.

9:40And remarkable, really, for those players to pull off the feet of winning a major trophy again on foreign soil as well is an amazing achievement and one that I think will rightly be celebrated. There were a lot of new young players who slotted in seamlessly into the squad. Can you tell me more about them? The biggest one is obviously everyone's talking about is Michelle Adjeman, who scored in the quarterfinals. She scored in the semi-final. A remarkable story in the fact that she'd played 14 minutes for England before this tournament. Still only 19 years old. Is at Arsenal, but she spent the season on loan at Brighton.

10:11Brilliant impact player for England off the bench. Caused so many problems. Strong player, really physical, but so composed for someone of that age. I think she's probably been the kind of biggest breakout star. And then another one, I guess, would be Hannah Hampton. She's still only 24. The very big challenge of stepping into Mary Earps' shoes, who retired before the tournament, was brilliant I think in in two penalty shootouts obviously against Spain last night she delivered the goods and for England fans she's kind of become a cult hero in the space of sort of three weeks which is a testament to how she played and also the kind of character I think fans have really warmed to her and yeah those are two players that I think before the tournament people didn't really know about and now they're kind of probably two of the biggest names in women's football in this country.

10:49And how do the Lionesses learn from what they've done in Basel and try to win that World Cup in two years time. That is the next step for them. I mean, they've achieved so much, but I think a lot of this group would say winning the World Cup would be the, I think the big thing for England is defensively, you know, they did struggle at times, particularly that left side of the defence. You know, left back has been a problem for this team. Probably throughout Serena Vigman's reign, really, I think as well, they'll probably want to try and refresh the midfield a bit. I think Grace Clinton is another young player who's done well at Manchester United.

11:18She's someone who could try and force her way into the team. But I think they've kind of got the core elements of the team in place and it's just about refining it to get over the line. And with Wiegmann in charge, we speak about this team, but she's an incredible manager. I think they'll believe that in two years' time they can win that World Cup. I think a key one is to mention Lucy Bronze as well. Everyone sort of heard about her. The fact that she played at the tournament with a fractured tibia is quite crazy, but 33 years old. I think there might be some people who are kind of wondering how much longer she's got left, but the fact she's played this whole tournament basically on one leg would make me think that she'll desperately want to go to that World Cup.

11:49She's probably England's most decorated women's football in this seventh major tournament. She's never won a World Cup. And I think even though she's 33, she'll be 35 by the time the next World Cup comes around. I think she'll be determined to be there. I think having a character like her in the squad would be big for England, even if she's not playing as much as she is now. Will Serena Wiegmann continue to coach them? Serena will be staying on. So she has a contract that runs until 2027, until after that World Cup. She's been in two World Cup finals. She was win one with England, with one with the Netherlands.

12:17she's never won that trophy. So it's kind of going to prove as well to lift it. Who are they likely to face in 2027 at the World Cup in Brazil? England's probably biggest rival will be Spain again. They are the reigning world champions. I think as we saw from the game yesterday, best team in the world. I think when you watch them play football, the way they can control the game, the way they can dominate teams is a level above anyone else. And I think for England stylistically, I think they've probably got to decide if they want to try and match Spain in that style or go down their own route, which I think in this tournament we saw they kind of reverted to the England of old of being, you know, difficult to be, working hard, disciplined.

12:55And that'll be the interesting thing to see over these next two years, stylistically, how does this team evolve? Do they want to try and play like Spain, who are a brilliant footballing team, get the ball down, pass it? Or do they want to play into what they did during this tournament? You know, the word from the players was proper England. And whether that was just what we saw for this month in Switzerland, or is this, this is now New England that they want to be this style of team. So I think that'll be an interesting decision for Wiedmann to make. how much you want to evolve this team to beat the best in the world because they've beaten the best by kind of going back to their roots and not trying to copy Spain and do what they do.

13:24Finally, do you have anything else to add? In terms of the style of football, I don't think fans would say it's been the best to watch. I think a lot of coaches will tell you that good teams find a way to win when they're not playing their best. And for England to be able to have this ability to kind of dig out results and performances when they're not playing well, I think will stand them in good stead. I think you could argue, is it sustainable to play like that all the time? Probably not. I think for fans, that'll be the big question. What's this team going to look like in two years' time?

13:54And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. If you'd like to get in touch, please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. We'll be back here tomorrow at 5pm. We'll see you then.

14:16Thank you.