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Trump’s comments came just hours after the UK government deported the first migrant back to France under a new “one-in, one-out” returns deal
US President Donald Trump with British PM Keir Starmer during a joint press conference following their meeting at Chequers, in Aylesbury, central England. (AFP photo)
US President Donald Trump on Thursday told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take stronger action to stop illegal immigration, even suggesting that the British government could “call in the military” if needed.
Speaking at a joint press conference at Chequers during his official state visit to the UK, Trump was asked if he had any advice for Starmer on how to handle immigration. In response, he said immigration was one of the main reasons he had first run for office, and claimed he had now got illegal immigration in the United States “down to zero”.
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“I told the Prime Minister I would stop it,” Trump said. “And it doesn’t matter if you call out the military. It doesn’t matter what means you use, but it’s going to destroy, it destroys countries from within.”
Trump’s comments came just hours after the UK government deported the first migrant back to France under a new “one-in, one-out” returns deal. The flight took off at 6.15am Thursday morning, marking the first removal of its kind under the agreement made between London and Paris.
Under the pilot scheme, which began in August and is expected to run till June 2026, Britain can detain and return small boat migrants who arrive via the Channel if they have travelled through a “safe country” like France. In return, the UK will accept an equal number of migrants from France who will be allowed to apply for UK visas through an online platform.
Starmer described the deportation as a “proof of concept” and said it showed that the new policy was working.
“We need to ramp that up at scale, which was always envisaged under the scheme but it’s very important that we have been able to prove the proof of concept,” the British Prime Minister said.
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The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d…Read More
The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d… Read More
United Kingdom (UK)
September 18, 2025, 21:24 IST
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