LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump wraps up his state visit to the United Kingdom today following a royal procession and a sleepover at Windsor Castle. Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have signed a technology agreement as U.S. companies pledge investment in the U.K. This as the allies work to shore up what Starmer called their, quote, "unbreakable bond." London-based journalist Willem Marx has been following today's political and diplomatic developments and joins us now. Hi, Willem.
WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: Hey, Leila.
FADEL: OK. So it sounds like President Trump is really focused on business today, right?
MARX: Yeah. So before and indeed during this visit, we've seen a bunch of business deal announcements - a $30 billion investment from Microsoft, almost $7 billion from Google - those and others really focusing on the U.K.'s artificial intelligence industry, as well as the financial sector and even the nuclear energy sector, too. Obviously, the detail is going to be important, though. Some of these high-sounding dollar figures that have been bandied around - some $200 billion in total - may actually end up being invested over multiple years, or instead, you know, they might represent pledges rather than checks that have actually been written. But either way, there were lots of tech CEOs at last night's state banquet, among them Apple's Tim Cook, OpenAI's Sam Altman. It was the kind of blending of business and state affairs that's been common in this administration.
FADEL: Yeah. So in a way, all the royal treatment was a way to emphasize the strength of the so-called U.S.-U.K. special relationship before getting down to brass tacks.
MARX: Yeah. You know, President Trump's clearly basked in the royal attention. He said in his banquet toast last night that this visit was one of the highest honors of his life. Up until this morning, it was supposed to be a purely royal rather than political visit. But last night, King Charles seemed to make some clearly political comments in his own toast when he reminded Trump that the U.S. and U.K. had fought together in two world wars to, quote, "defeat the forces of tyranny."
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KING CHARLES III: Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine.
MARX: Now, anyone who saw Trump's Oval Office argument with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, back in February might have interpreted that as a minor royal reproach. What's not yet clear, though, is whether continued U.S. support for Ukraine actually came up more directly during conversations with Prime Minister Starmer.
FADEL: Well, let's talk about what we do know about Starmer and the president. They did hold a joint press conference after their meetings today. What did we learn?
MARX: Well, tariffs were very high on the British agenda for these talks. The U.K. cut an early trade deal with the Trump administration back in May, you might remember. But U.K. steel still faces a 25% tariff. Even Scotch whisky faces a 10% tariff. The U.K. has been lobbying for those to be lowered. President Trump, though, in that public meeting with lots of business leaders around him - he and Starmer signed this new agreement tied to tech investment, but then he continued to talk up the use of tariffs.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're taking in trillions of dollars from tariffs, and they've been so incredible for our country. So incredible. We're keeping our companies happy. We're keeping them solid and sane, and they're very, very thrilled at what's happened.
MARX: But there's been very little sign that those tariffs are actually working well for Britain, though, Leila. And once the president's returned home, Keir Starmer might face some parliamentary pressure on that exact issue in the days to come.
FADEL: That's London-based reporter Willem Marx. Thank you, Willem.
MARX: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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