Trump warns US-UK trade deal ‘can always be changed’ with relations in ‘sad state’
Donald Trump has threatened to row back on the trade deal the US signed with the UK last year, in his latest salvo against the British government over sharp differences about the US’s approach to the Middle East.The US president said the economic deal struck with the UK, which cut some of his tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel, was “better than I had to” and that it could “always be changed”.UK ministers have cited the agreement signed last May as an example of the continuing close ties with the US, which they argue persist despite Trump’s increasingly harsh criticism of Keir Starmer and his government.However, they are furious at the economic fallout on the UK and other nations from the US decision to go to war with Iran, potentially triggering a global recession that would affect the UK more than any of the other G7 nations.Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said she is “frustrated and angry” that the US launched strikes without a clear idea of its objectives, while Starmer said last week he was “fed up” with Trump’s actions causing energy bills to rise.
Trump, in his latest interview with a journalist on his personal mobile phone, told Sky News that the so-called special relationship between the US and UK was in a “sad state” and again accused Britain of being “not there when we needed them” over the Iran conflict,“Well, it’s been better, but it’s sad,And we gave them a good trade deal, better than I had to, which can always be changed,” he said,“It’s the relationship where when we asked them for help, they were not there when we needed them, they were not there when we didn’t need them,They were not there, and they still aren’t there.
”Asked whether relations between the two leaders were at a low point, Starmer’s spokesperson said: “I certainly wouldn’t characterise it in the way that the president has said … The special relationship with the US exists on multiple levels and we have a close relationship, which spans trade, diplomacy, national security, culture and beyond.It’s far bigger than any individual issue.”Starmer has increasingly leaned towards the EU, arguing that the economic and security benefits of a closer relationship with the bloc are “simply too big to ignore”, particularly at a time of such global volatility and when the US has proven itself to be an unreliable partner.In his interview, Trump suggested a permanent ceasefire could be struck with Tehran before King Charles’s state visit to the US later in April.“They’re beaten up, pretty bad.
It’s very possible,” he said.He repeated his previous criticisms – not always factually accurate – of the UK’s policies on energy and immigration and defended himself for wading into other countries’ domestic politics.“I like Starmer but I think he’s made a tragic mistake in closing the North Sea oil.You see your energy prices are the highest in the world,” he said.“And I think he’s made a tragic mistake on immigration.
I love your country, and I would love to see it succeed.But if you have bad immigration policies and bad energy policies, you have the worst of both.You can’t succeed, not possible.“A lot of people ask me what I think about them [the policies], and I think they’re insane.They’re destroying your country.
”Reeves, in Washington for meetings at the International Monetary Fund, is set to meet her US counterpart, Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, after he said “a small bit of economic pain” caused by the Iran war was worth it to prevent Tehran getting a nuclear weapon.The comments put him at odds with Reeves, who has voiced frustration at the “folly” of the US’s actions in the Middle East and its financial fallout on families.The IMF’s spring meetings will be dominated by the crisis in the Gulf.It has cut Britain’s economic growth forecast as a result of the conflict and warned that a worldwide recession could be on the cards.However, the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, said the UK was much better placed to deal with the fallout because of its resilient banking system forged after the 2007-09 financial crisis.
Trump threatens to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell amid pressure campaign
Donald Trump threatened to fire Jerome Powell if he stays on as US Federal Reserve chair past the end of his tenure and doubled down on a criminal investigation into renovations of the central bank’s headquarters.As the White House pushes Trump’s new nominee to take charge of the Fed, Kevin Warsh, Powell has a month left in the role. The possibility of Powell staying on as chair past 15 May, the official end of his term, has grown amid mounting scrutiny of Trump’s approach to the Fed in the Senate, which is required to approve Warsh’s nomination.“I’ll have to fire him, OK, if he’s not leaving on time,” Trump said of Powell during an interview on Fox Business. “I’ve held back firing him
Norwegian group in talks to buy former Liberty Steel works in South Yorkshire
UK officials have entered exclusive talks with a Norwegian startup to buy the former Liberty Steel works in South Yorkshire, in a significant step towards its rescue.Norwegian-owned Blastr is understood to be the bidder preferred by the government’s official receiver to take on ownership of the UK’s largest existing electric arc furnace in Rotherham and other works in Stocksbridge, both in South Yorkshire.The business, formally named Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), has been under the official receiver’s control since August, after the previous owner Sanjeev Gupta lost the ownership in London’s high court.Finding a new buyer would remove a headache for the government, which also a year ago took control of the Chinese-owned British Steel blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. Ministers are understood to be looking at fully nationalising that plant
$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds
The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper.The conflict pushed the price of oil to an average of $100 (£74) a barrel in March, leading to estimated windfall war profits for the month of $23bn for the companies. Oil and gas supplies will take months to return to pre-war levels and the companies will make $234bn by the end of the year if the oil price continues to average $100. The analysis uses data from a leading intelligence provider, Rystad Energy, analysed by Global Witness
IMF chief Georgieva warns ‘everyone will feel the impact’ of energy price shock, as UK growth beats forecasts – as it happened
Over in Washington DC, the International Monetary Fund is holding a debate on the global economy.IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva says the world economy is facing another, large, shock:double quotation markThe world economy has been, very resilient over the last few years, facing shock after the shock. And this resilience is tested yet again, this time by a shock that is large.Twenty percent of oil and gas is stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, depriving primarily Asia, but also Europe, and other parts of the world of a vital resource. It is global
Europe has only six weeks’ supply of jet fuel left owing to Iran war, says energy chief
Europe has only six weeks of jet fuel left before shortages will hit because of the Iran war, according to the head of a global energy watchdog.Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said there would be flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies from the Middle East were not restored within the coming weeks.“I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel,” he told the Associated Press.KLM, part of the Air France-KLM group, said on Thursday it would cut 160 flights in the coming month because of high kerosene jet fuel prices. Although less than 1% of its schedule, the cancellations underline the financial pressures on the airline industry
Metro Bank boss handed record £2.6m a year after slashing 1,000 jobs
Metro Bank’s chief executive has been handed a £2.6m pay packet – the largest in its history – a year after slashing 1,000 jobs in response to the lender’s near collapse.The figure is more than double the £1.2m Dan Frumkin was paid in 2024. Metro pushed through the pay bump and complex bonus scheme for the former RBS and Northern Rock banker at a shareholder meeting last year
Officials debate withholding Mandelson vetting documents from parliament
Revealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision
A decade on from Brexit, Britain still flounders without a place in the world | Letters
SNP pledges to cap bread and milk prices if it wins Scotland’s parliamentary elections
CEO of bitcoin firm championed by Nigel Farage leaves company
Reeves tells Americans Trump’s Iran war is a ‘mistake’