Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2025
July 25, 2025
The President. Hello, everybody.
You know our Ambassador to Scotland, and it's great to be in Scotland. We are going to be meeting with the Prime Minister, I guess, tomorrow—a little bit tomorrow and the next day, and we're going to do some great things.
Do you have any questions?
President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission
Q. Are you meeting with Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday to discuss the EU trade deal?
The President. What?
Q. Are you meeting with Ursula——
The President. Yes.
Q. ——von der Leyen?
The President. I'll be meeting with the EU on Sunday, and we'll be working on a deal. We'll see if we make a deal. Ursula will be here. Highly respected woman. So we look forward to that. That'll be good.
[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.]
Q. Mr. President——
Q. Sir, on Gaza.
The President's Schedule
Q. What media executives will you be meeting with? What media executives are you meeting with while you're here?
The President. We'll have numerous executives that we're meeting with. A lot of—we're going to be meeting with a lot of people. A lot of people. We'll be staying at Turnberry, and then we're going to Aberdeen, which is the oil capital of Europe, actually.
Q. Sir, on Gaza.
United Kingdom's Trade Agreement With U.S.
Q. Mr. President, can you explain what is kind of—what is missing in the U.K. deal that you have to work out?
The President. Nothing. We just—I think it's more of a celebration than a "work out." It's— it's a great deal for both, and we're going to have a meeting on other things other than the deal.
The deal is concluded.
President Emmanuel Macron of France
Q. Sir, on Gaza. French President Emmanuel Macron just said that France will officially recognize a Palestinian state. What's your comment on that—this?
The President. Well, that's what he does. I mean, you know, he—that's fine, if he does that.
That's up to him. It's not up to me. I'm with the United States. I'm not with France. [Laughter]
Gaza, Palestinian Territories
Q. And on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. We hear very dire warnings about the risk of——
The President. I think it's terrible what happened with Hamas. They tapped everybody along, and we'll see what happens. We'll see what response Israel has to that. But it's getting to be that time.
European Union/Trade With U.S.
Q. On the EU deal. You said there's a fifty-fifty chance of a deal. What is left to work out? What are the final sticking points?
The President. I don't know, with the European Union, I think we have a good fifty-fifty chance. That's a lot.
Q. What are the sticking points that you still need to work out?
The President. Well, I don't want to tell you what the sticking points are, but the sticking points are having to do with maybe 20 different things. You don't want to listen to all of them.
Yes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom
Q. What advice are you going to have for our Prime Minister about free speech? It's very important to people here.
The President. Well, it is, but 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. He got it done. It's a good deal. It's a good deal for the U.K.
So, no, I'll be seeing him tomorrow, I guess—tomorrow evening. And this is our wonderful Ambassador, as you know. He's doing a good job. He'll be—he's a very, very successful man.
He'll be doing a good job.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Trump Turnberry Hotel and Resort/Golf Courses in Scotland, United Kingdom
Q. The Royal and Ancient—the Royal and Ancient says you're going to have to improve infrastructure at Turnberry to bring the Open back. Is that something you're going to ask the——
The President. I don't know, the——
Q. ——British Prime Minister for help with?
The President. ——the best course—the best course anywhere in the world is Turnberry. The players all want to be at Turnberry. Everybody wants to be a Turnberry. So we'll see how that works out.
Q. But if the infrastructure needs to be improved, is that something——
The President. Oh, I think the—well, the infrastructure in the course is good. In fact, the Royal and Ancient—I don't know if you're aware of this—they spent a lot of money—hundreds of thousands of dollars or probably into the millions of dollars—and they've laid all the wire for
television and for electricity under the holes of Turnberry so that when the open gets there, they have it all done. They paid for that.
Q. While we're talking about roads, the railway station, that sort of thing.
The President. Well, I don't know.
Q. That seems like a bigger thing——
The President. See, I don't know what you can do. All I can tell you is that it would be the best place anywhere in—in your country to have—there's no place like it. There's no place like Turnberry. It's the best—probably the best course in the world. And I would say Aberdeen is right up there also. Aberdeen is great.
And while we're here, I'll be with my son. And he's going to cut a ribbon for the second course at Aberdeen, which is just about equal to the first. I mean, it's going to be a battle to—you know, it's—as you know, they're very highly rated. And the second course is great.
Sean Connery helped get me the permits. If it weren't for Sean Connery, we wouldn't have those great courses.
Department of Justice Files Concerning Deceased Convicted Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein
Q. Mr. President, were you briefed on your name appearing in the Epstein files ever?
The President. No, I was never—never briefed, no.
Q. Did you ask House——
Convicted Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell/ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche/United Kingdom/National Economy
Q. What are you hoping—what are you hoping Todd Blanche interviewing Ghislaine Maxwell—what are hoping that they get out of that?
The President. I really have no—really nothing to say about it. She is being talked to by a very smart man—by a very good man, Todd Blanche. And I don't know anything about the conversation. I haven't really been following it.
A lot of people are asking me about pardons. Obviously, this is no time to be talking about pardons.
Q. Did you——
The President. But a lot of people have asked about pardon. This is just not a time to be talking about pardons.
Todd will come back with whatever he's got. You're making a very big thing over something that's not a big thing. You should be talking about—if you're going to talk about that, talk about Clinton. Talk about the former president of Harvard. Talk about all of his friends. Talk about the hedge fund guys that were with him all the time. Don't talk about Trump.
What you should be talking about is the fact that we have the greatest 6 months in the history of a Presidency, according to a lot of people. And we had an amazing 6 months. And this is sort of an example of it. Now we're meeting with the European Union, having—we're also meeting with, as you know, the head of U.K., the Prime Minister, and I look forward to that.
But we're meeting—in terms of a deal, we're meeting with the European Union, and that would be, actually, the biggest deal of them all, if we make it.
Department of Justice Files Concerning Deceased Convicted Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein
Q. Did you ask House Republican leaders to not vote on the resolution about releasing the files?
The President. No, I was never—I was never involved in that. I'm focused on making deals. I'm not focused on conspiracy theories that you are. I mean, I watch you people, it's so sad. You ought to talk about the success of our country, instead of this nonsense that you talk about——
Q. Sir, you've done——
The President. ——over and over again.
Q. You've done an amazing job on illegal migration in America.
The President. I have.
European Wind Energy/Migration Issues
Q. A lot of people here are very worried about the situation. There's record numbers. Will you——
The President. Well, I say, things—I say two things to Europe: Stop the windmills. You're ruining your countries. Stop—I really mean it. It's so sad. You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds and, if they're stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans. Stop the windmills.
And I also—I mean, there's a couple of things I could say, but on immigration, you better get your act together, or you're not going to have Europe anymore. You've got to get your act together.
And we—you know, as you know, last month, we had nobody entering our country.
Nobody. Shut it down. And we took out a lot of bad people that got there with Biden.
Biden was a total stiff, and what he allowed to happen—but you're allowing it to happen to your countries. And you got to stop the—this horrible invasion that's happening to Europe— many countries in Europe. Some people—some leaders have not let it happen, and they're not getting the proper credit that they should. I could name them to you right now, but I'm not going to embarrass the other ones.
But stop—this immigration is killing Europe. And the other thing: Stop the windmills, killing the beauty of your countries.
Thank you very much, everybody.
NOTE: The President spoke at 8:41 p.m. on the tarmac at the Glasgow Prestwick Airport prior to boarding Marine One. In his remarks, he referred to U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Warren Stephens; former President William J. Clinton; former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers, in his former capacity as president of Harvard University; and former President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. He also referred to his son Eric F. Trump. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on July 28.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, Prestwick, United Kingdom.
Locations: Prestwick, United Kingdom.
Names: Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Blanche, Todd; Clinton, William J.; Macron, Emmanuel; Maxwell, Ghislaine; Starmer, Keir; Stephens, Warren; Summers, Lawrence H.; von der Leyen, Ursula.
Subjects: Department of Justice, investigation documents pertaining to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; Deputy Attorney General; Europe, migration issues; European Commission President; European Union, trade with U.S.; France, President; Gaza, conflict with Israel; Golf; Hamas political-paramilitary organization; Israel, military operations in Gaza; Pardons and commutations; Solar and wind energy; United Kingdom, President Trump's visit; United Kingdom, Prime Minister; United Kingdom, trade with U.S.; United Kingdom, Trump International Scotland in Aberdeen, Scotland; United Kingdom, Trump Turnberry Hotel and Resort in Turnberry, Scotland; United Kingdom, U.S. Ambassador.
DCPD Number: DCPD202500799.