Donald Trump has told Sir Keir Starmer he should use the military to stop migrants crossing the Channel.

The US president made the suggestion while stood alongside the prime minister for a typically wide-ranging news conference on Thursday afternoon, bringing his state visit to Britain to an end.

Catch up on updates from Trump’s state visit

Speaking at Chequers, Sir Keir‘s country retreat, Mr Trump warned illegal migration is “going to destroy […] countries from within” and said “it doesn’t matter if you call out the military” to deal with small boats.

He talked up his own record of stopping people crossing the US-Mexico border.

Sir Keir instead pointed to his government’s migrant return deal with France, with the first deportation of a man who arrived via small boat taking place on Thursday morning.

Further flights are scheduled to take place this week and next, starting Friday, while exchange arrivals to Britain via the legal route agreed with the French are due in the coming days.

Mr Trump also used the news conference to admit Vladimir Putin “has really let me down”, having stepped up his attacks against Ukraine since the two men held a peace summit in Alaska last month.

But asked by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby if it was a mistake to invite Mr Putin and if he regrets it, the president replied: “No.”

It’s the “biggest disappointment” of his presidency that he hasn’t managed to end the war, Mr Trump admitted.

He said he thought it would be the “easiest” to solve because of his relationship with Mr Putin.

Sir Keir said the Russian president has “shown his true face”, and more “pressure” is required to make him stop.

Trump reignites war of words with Khan

While disappointed with Mr Putin, Mr Trump spared his harshest rhetoric for Sir Keir’s friend Sadiq Khan.

Speaking on Air Force One on his way back to the US, where he touched down in the early hours of Friday, he said he asked for the London mayor to be banned from attending the state banquet at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

“I didn’t want him there,” the president said. “I asked that he not be there.”

He claimed Sir Sadiq had wanted to be at the event, adding: “I think the mayor of London Khan is among the worst mayors in the world, and we have some bad ones.”

Sky News understands the mayor didn’t seek or expect an invitation. A source close to Sir Sadiq said the capital is a “global success story” and “record numbers of Americans are choosing to make London their home”.

The Trump-Starmer news conference also covered the war in Gaza, the sacking of Lord Mandelson as Britain’s US ambassador, energy policy, and a newly signed UK-US tech deal.

Speaking about the situation in Gaza, Mr Trump said: “Simply I want all hostages to be released now.”

He said he disagreed with the UK’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN within days, should Israel not improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Trump claims not to know Mandelson

Also asked by Beth Rigby if he has sympathy with Lord Mandelson, who was sacked by Sir Keir over past links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, the president simply said: “I don’t know him.”

That’s despite the president being pictured shaking hands with the Labour peer in the Oval Office after announcing a trade deal with the UK back in May.

There had been concerns that the Epstein issue could cast a shadow on the president’s second state visit to the UK, not least because Mr Trump was also close to Epstein, although they fell out before his conviction in 2009.

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Energy policy

Mr Trump urged Sir Keir to exploit the UK’s North Sea oil and gas resources, dismissing wind power as a “very expensive joke”.

The UK government has ruled out new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, focusing on renewables and building nuclear power stations.

Despite their differences, Mr Trump said the bond between the US and Britain is like no other, and he described the prime minister as a “tough negotiator”.

The pair signed a technology prosperity deal, offering major investment by US tech firms in the UK, that will help to develop artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

Sir Keir also hailed the prospect of £150bn flowing into the UK from big US companies such as Palantir and Blackstone, part of a wider £250bn package that officials say will benefit both sides.

Jimmy Kimmel controversy

Meanwhile, Mr Trump also commented on US late-night chat show host Jimmy Kimmel, whose programme has been pulled from schedules after his remarks about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The president claimed the show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was suspended because he “is not a talented person” and had “very bad ratings”.

Two of the most important Labour-affiliated unions are set to nominate their choice for who should replace Angela Rayner as the party’s deputy leader.

Unison and GMB will pick their candidate on 25 September – two days ahead of the deadline for nominations for Labour affiliates and local party branches.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is seen as the government’s choice of candidate in the race, which has effectively turned into a de facto confidence vote on Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.

She is up against Lucy Powell, who was sacked as Commons leader in the recent reshuffle and has become the candidate for MPs who are unhappy with the party’s direction after a difficult first year in government.

Ms Phillipson has already secured the backing of the two unions – Community and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers.

Will unions want to say ‘sod you’ to PM?

There are question marks over who Unison, GMB and Unite will back in the race, triggered by Ms Rayner quitting as deputy leader, deputy prime minister and housing secretary over underpaid stamp duty on a second home.

While Ms Phillipson may be boosted by having the backing of Number 10, the level of discontent in the Labour Party and wider union movement is at such a level that Ms Powell’s “outsider” status may benefit her.

One union source told Sky News that while they felt Ms Phillipson was the “better candidate”, “the temptation to vote Lucy to give a ‘sod you’ to government is a lot”.

They added: “Number 10 need to start fearing the party. They’ve had it too easy.”

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Another union insider said there was a “sense among union leaders that they wish this wasn’t happening”.

They questioned how important a role the unions would play in this contest due to the tight timetable, making it harder for them to mobilise behind a candidate.

“Most unions feel this is not a hugely impactful moment either way,” they said.

“Many of their members will be feeling quite grumpy at how things are going with the government, but at the same time, union leaders won’t want to get on the wrong side of Number 10 over something that is not going to make a meaningful difference in the long term.”

There are questions over the extent of Unite’s involvement and interest in the race.

Although the union is Labour’s biggest supporter, Sharon Graham, its general secretary, has sought to turn its focus away from internal party politics and on to industrial disputes.

On the first day of the Trades Union Congress in Brighton, she told Sky News she’d be “looking very much at their track record – have they backed workers? That’s what I’ll be looking for”.

How will the race play out?

In order to proceed to the next stage of the contest, the two candidates must each secure nominations from at least 5% of constituency Labour parties, or at least three organisations affiliated that to the party. At least two of these must be trade unions which make up 5% of fully paid-up affiliated party members.

The deadline to secure the necessary support is Saturday 27 September.

The Labour Party’s annual conference begins the next day, where the candidates who have secured the required backing will be able to make their pitches directly to members in a final hustings.

Ms Phillipson has pitched herself as the candidate who can “unite” the party after a difficult first year in power, which has seen Labour sink to just 20% in the polls, behind Nigel Farage’s Reform, which is leading on 28%.

Ms Phillipson, who has spoken of growing up in a working class area of Sunderland before going on to high office, said she was the person to take on Reform and secure a second term for Labour.

Speaking at a hustings event last week, she told members: “You can use this contest to look backward, to pass judgment on what has happened in the last year, or you can use it to shape positively what happens in the run-up to the next election.”

‘Unforced errors’ cost government

Her message comes in contrast to that of Ms Powell, who has pitched herself as the “shop steward” of the parliamentary party willing to deliver criticism to the prime minister if necessary.

She said Labour’s mistakes in office over welfare and winter fuel payments had given the impression that it is “not on the side of ordinary people”.

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Powell praised the government’s “many achievements”, but added: “Some of the mistakes that we’ve made, or some of the unforced errors, have given a sense that we’re not on the side of ordinary people.”

Although Ms Powell secured fewer nominations from MPs than Ms Phillipson, recent polling by Survation suggests she is ahead with members on 47%, compared with 30% for her rival.

Football and the royals are two subjects which have always attracted very outspoken fans. Now, aged 90, Lord Norman Foster is attempting to please both.

One of the one of the world’s most important living architects, he is known for being the vision behind some of the world’s most iconic designs – including London’s “Gherkin” building, the Millennium Bridge and the British Museum’s spectacular Great Court.

Arguably, however, two of his most talked about designs are yet to be built.

In June, his firm Foster + Partners was announced as having won the commission to build a national memorial in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Before that, in March, his firm’s vision for a new 100,000-seater stadium at Old Trafford was revealed, which he describes as “the project of a lifetime”.

‘A galvanising project’

“The fan base is incredible,” Lord Foster said of his excitement at being commissioned to work on the new ground.

For the renowned architect it is a homecoming of sorts, given Lord Foster’s working-class roots, having grown-up in Manchester.

Was he excited to be involved?

“You bet,” he exclaims.

“It’s a galvanising project… and so many things can naturally ride on the back of that sporting, emblematic kind of team.”

Set to cost around £2bn – with its three tall masts acting as a vast umbrella over Old Trafford – the design is part of a larger regeneration project which Lord Foster claims could be completed in five years.

It is described as a “master plan that will create streets, squares, neighbourhoods and connect with the heart of Manchester.”

Asked whether it will feel unlike any other British stadium, he said: “Manchester United is different and therefore its stadium’s going to be different… and better, of course.”

And what of the QEII memorial?

He says his design to remember the late monarch in London’s St James’ Park will be “more of all the good things”.

His plans include a statue of Queen Elizabeth II standing next to her husband Prince Philip, and a semi-glass bridge which is a nod to her wedding tiara.

As for those who’ve questioned whether maintaining its sparkle might prove to be problematic, Lord Foster insists it’ll be “less maintenance, more joy”.

He says his hope is “to address the many millions who traverse that [park], the daily commuters and many tourists, and to make that more human, to make it a better experience and a reminder of the legacy of the most extraordinary long-serving monarch”.

After collecting the London Design Festival’s prestigious lifetime achievement medal earlier this week, with six decades of experience under his belt, Lord Foster says he finds Britain’s inability to invest in infrastructure frustrating.

“I lamented, like so many, the cancellation of HS2,” he says. The long-delayed rail route’s northern leg to Manchester was scrapped by Rishi Sunak in 2023.

“That was about levelling-up. It wasn’t about getting from one place in lightning speed, it was taking the burden off the regional network so it would serve local communities better.”

He says “connectivity is the answer to many of the social issues that we talk about”.

The tendency of politicians, he says, to prioritise short-term issues doesn’t help when it comes to seeing the bigger picture.

“There is not the awareness of the importance of design and planning… you do need a political awareness,” he says.

“The city is not static, it’s dynamic. It’s always changing, evolving, adapting to change, and it can do that well, or it can do it badly. But it needs planning, it needs anticipation.”