October 1, 2026
AYLESBURY, England (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed what he called a historic agreement on science and technology with Britain..
Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a roundtable with business leaders as they signed the deal. They also had private meetings where the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and tariff rates the U.S. may set on steel imported from Britain were expected to be discussed. At a subsequent joint news conference, Starmer said, “While we shape this bond for a new era, the fundamentals have not changed.”
At the earlier signing ceremony for an agreement meant to promote tech investment in both nations, Starmer referred to the American president as “my friend, our friend” and spoke of “leaders who respect each other and leaders who genuinely like each other.” The event took place at Chequers, a 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders.
Trump joked with his treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, as he signed the tech deal, “Should I sign this Howard? Scott? If the deal’s no good I’m blaming you.”
After bidding goodbye to King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor — Trump called the monarch “a great gentleman, and a great king" — the Trumps flew by helicopter some 20 miles to Chequers. The Republican president was welcomed by a ceremonial honor guard complete with bagpipers — a nod to Trump's Scottish heritage — and shown items from the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term “special relationship” for the bond between the allies.
Trump told business leaders at a reception at Chequers that the two countries shared an “unbreakable bond.” Starmer called the relationship "the very foundation of our security, our freedom and our prosperity.”
To coincide with the visit, Britain said U.S. companies had pledged 150 billion pounds ($204 billion) in investment in the U.K, including 90 billion pounds ($122 billion) from investment firm Blackstone in the next decade. Investment will also flow the other way, including almost $30 billion by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the U.S.
At the reception, attended by tech bosses including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and U.S. officials such as Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Starmer said it was “the biggest investment package of its kind in British history by a country mile.”
U.K. officials say the deal will bring thousands of jobs and billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and nuclear energy. It includes a U.K. arm of Stargate, a Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of AI data centers around the U.K. American companies are announcing 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) in investment in the U.K.’s AI sector, including $30 billion from Microsoft for projects including Britain’s largest supercomputer.
British officials say they have not agreed to scrap a digital services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some details of which have yet to be announced.
In the private talks, difficult conversations were expected about Ukraine and the Middle East.
The British government has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, calling Israel's latest Gaza City offensive “utterly reckless and appalling.” Starmer has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state this month, potentially within days. Trump has threatened to penalize Canada during trade negotiations for making a similar move.
Starmer also has played a major part in European efforts to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations. On Tuesday, Trump appeared to put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “He's going to have to make a deal.”
The king gave Trump a gentle nudge in his state banquet speech on the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Charles noted that “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”
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