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President Biden has promised that he will visit Baltimore “as soon as possible” after a major bridge collapsed – as the city’s governor has said the search for “survivors” continues as six people remain missing.

The 1.6-mile long Francis Scott Key Bridge crashed into the Patapsco River after it was hit by a 289m-long cargo ship at 1.30am local time (5.30am UK time) on Tuesday.

“People of Baltimore, we’re with you,” the US president said this evening, as he added the search and rescue operation was a “top priority”.

Wes Moore, governor of Baltimore, and Paul Wiedefeld, secretary of the Maryland Transport Authority, have said the six people missing are believed to be construction workers who were on the bridge fixing potholes.

Mr Moore has said teams are looking at the damage caused by the crash and “everyone has raised their hands to serve”.

“This is very much still a search and rescue mission. We are still actively looking for survivors,” he added.

Mr Moore said air, land and sea resources have been deployed to help in the search.

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Eight people were initially unaccounted for, with two of them having been rescued from the water.

One of them is described as being in a “very serious condition” in hospital while the other was not injured.

Meanwhile, the US president said the federal government will cover the “full cost” of rebuilding the bridge. He said it may emerge a private company was responsible for the disaster, but his government is “not going to wait” to begin the rebuilding process.

Mr Biden told reporters at the White House: “It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect Congress to support my effort.”

Baltimore bridge latest: Follow live updates

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Everything we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse.

The US president continued: “Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here.

Personnel on board the ship were able to alert the Maryland Department of Transportation that they had lost control of their vessel.”

Mr Biden added that this meant local authorities were able to close the bridge before it was struck which “undoubtedly saved lives”.

He continued: “Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident and all the families [affected], especially those waiting for news of their loved one right now. I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime.”

Read more:
‘Huge implications’ as bridge collapses forces port to close
Baltimore ship’s four critical minutes before collision
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The US president said the search and rescue operation remains the “top priority” but authorities will be working to get the port open again as soon as possible.

The Port of Baltimore, which is accessed or departed by going underneath the bridge, is one of the US’ largest shipping hubs.

Mr Biden said 15,000 jobs depend on the port.

“We’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs,” he added.

He continued: “I’ve directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible.”

Francis Scott Key Bridge

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‘They thought it was an earthquake’

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Timeline of Baltimore bridge collapse

Baltimore fire department’s communications chief Kevin Cartwright has said there were multiple vehicles on the bridge when it was struck by the ship, one of which was the size of a tractor trailer.

CCTV and marine tracking data shows the ship, known as the Dali, lost power, adjusted its course and started smoking about 60 seconds before it hit the bridge.

According to the timings on the CCTV, the vessel hit the structure at 1.28:44am – with the bridge collapsing four seconds later.

All 22 crew members on board the ship, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a news conference that its investigators will not board the Dali on Tuesday.

The authority’s chair Jennifer Homendy said the decision has been made to give “some time to the search and recovery effort”.

“We did not want to interfere,” she added.

Ms Homendy explained the NTSB will be able to provide more information in the “coming days”, and voyager data recorder information will be “critical”.

She said the NTSB will be leading the investigation and the Coast Guard will support it.

The same ship was previously involved in a minor incident when it hit a quay at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, according to Vessel Finder and maritime accident site Shipwrecklog.

The vessel was reportedly damaged in the incident, but there were no injuries or pollution issues reported.

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Aerial view of Baltimore bridge crash

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Meanwhile, Mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott has declared a local state of emergency which will be in place for the next 30 days as the search for the missing continues.

The NTSB is also conducting an investigation into the incident.

The Singapore-flagged ship was headed to Colombo in Sri Lanka at the time of the collision.

It was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk, which said it was “horrified by what has happened”. It said its thoughts were with everyone affected.

The Port of Baltimore is the 11th largest in the US, meaning its closure will cause knock-on effects for the industry.

Built in 1977, the Francis Scott Key Bridge is one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.

It was named after the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the US, which was penned after a War of 1812 US-UK battle in Baltimore harbour.

Tune into a special edition of The World with Yalda Hakim on Sky News tonight at 9pm.

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Donald Trump blames Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting Ukraine war – a day after dozens killed in Russian missile strikes

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Ukrainian forces 'strike Russian brigade' behind deadly missile attack on Sumy

Donald Trump has questioned Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s competence and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia which is “20 times” its size.

The US president also said “millions of people are dead because of three people” – blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin, his White House predecessor Joe Biden, and Mr Zelenskyy, in that order.

It comes a day after 35 people, including two children, were killed by two Russian missiles that struck the northeastern city of Sumy as Ukrainians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday in what was the deadliest strike on the country so far this year, according to officials.

Ukraine latest updates: Trump points finger over war

Damaged cars at the site of a Russian missile strike on Sumy. Pic: Reuters
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Damaged cars at the site of a Russian missile strike on Sumy. Pic: Reuters

Speaking in the White House’s Oval Office during a meeting with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Mr Trump told reporters: “If Biden were competent, and if Zelenskyy were competent, and I don’t know that he is…

“There was no way that war should never have been allowed to happen.”

He added: “Biden could have stopped it, and Zelenskyy could have stopped it, and Putin should have never started it.”

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Asked about Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Trump said: “When you start a war you’ve got to know you can win the war.

“You don’t start a war against somebody that’s 20 times your size. And then hope that people give you some missiles.”

Mr Trump said he was the first to give Ukraine Javelin missiles.

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in Sumy on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
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Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in Sumy on Sunday. Pic: Reuters

“Millions of people are dead because of three people,” Mr Trump added.

“Let’s say Putin number one, let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelenskyy.

“And all I can do is try and stop it – that’s all I want to do. I want to stop the killing.

“And I think we’re doing well in that regard. I think you’ll have some very good proposals very soon.”

Mr Zelenskyy has called for a global response to the Sumy attack, in which more than 100 people were injured, saying the first strike hit university buildings while the second exploded above street level.

On Monday, Ukraine’s air force said a new Russian missile and guided bombs had targeted Sumy, but gave no indication of casualties or damage. Public broadcaster Suspilne reported an explosion in the city, with no further details.

‘It’s a horrible thing’

Asked about Sunday’s Sumy attack which is near the Russian border, Mr Trump earlier said on board Air Force One: “I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing.”

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Russia ‘made a mistake’

When questioned about the incident, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s forces only strike military targets.

The strike targeted a gathering of senior military officers, according to the defence ministry in Moscow which accused Kyiv of using civilians as shields by holding military meetings in the city centre.

The ministry also claimed to have killed more than 60 troops. Russia did not provide any evidence to support its claims.

Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski, whose country currently holds the EU’s presidency, said that recent attacks are “Russia’s mocking answer” to Kyiv’s agreement to a ceasefire proposed by the US administration over a month ago.

Read more:
Why Putin seems to be raising the stakes
US envoy meets Putin for talks

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Missile attack on Sumy

What’s the latest on proposed ceasefire?

The attack on Sumy followed a missile strike on 4 April on Mr Zelenskyy’s home city of Kryvyi Rih that killed some 20 people, including nine children.

Russia and Ukraine’s senior diplomats have accused each other of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.

Ukraine has endorsed a broader US ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions.

Mr Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to control the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited. He has also made clear he wants Western sanctions eased.

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JD Vance says US and UK ‘working very hard’ on trade deal and will come to a ‘great agreement’

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JD Vance says US and UK 'working very hard' on trade deal and will come to a 'great agreement'

US vice president JD Vance has said America and the UK are “working very hard” on a trade deal and he believes they will reach a “great agreement”.

Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports to the United States several weeks ago, rocking the world economy, sending stock prices tumbling and sparking fears of a global recession.

Since then, Mr Trump has rowed back on those tariffs, reducing the rate paid on imports from most countries to 10% and, on Saturday, exempting electronics such as smartphones and laptops from the levy – including the 145% charge on imports from China.

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The UK was already going to face a blanket 10% duty before Mr Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” announcement of worldwide tariff increases.

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Trump meets ‘coolest dictator’

The UK government has been hopeful of a deal to exempt the UK from Mr Trump’s tariffs, and in an interview with the website UnHerd on Tuesday, Mr Vance said he was optimistic that both sides could come to a mutually beneficial agreement.

“We’re certainly working very hard with Keir Starmer’s government,” Mr Vance said.

“The president really loves the United Kingdom. He loved the Queen. He admires and loves the King. It is a very important relationship. And he’s a businessman and has a number of important business relationships in [Britain]. But I think it’s much deeper than that.

“There’s a real cultural affinity. And, of course, fundamentally, America is an Anglo country.

“I think there’s a good chance that, yes, we’ll come to a great agreement that’s in the best interest of both countries.”

Mr Vance said the “reciprocal relationship” between the US and UK gives Britain a more advantageous position than other European countries when it comes to negotiating new trade arrangements, adding: “While we love the Germans, they are heavily dependent on exporting to the United States but are pretty tough on a lot of American businesses that would like to export into Germany.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will aim to continue negotiations for an economic deal with the US later this month when she travels to Washington to attend the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings with other finance ministers.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, left, with Donald Trump, centre, and JD Vance in the Oval Office in February. Pic: Reuters
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UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, left, with Donald Trump, centre, and JD Vance in the Oval Office in February. Pic: Reuters

Vance criticises Europe on defence

During the interview, where he spoke on the phone from the West Wing of the White House, Mr Vance also touched on the apparent shift in the US and Europe’s security relationship.

He said: “The reality is – it’s blunt to say it, but it’s also true – that Europe’s entire security infrastructure, for my entire life, has been subsidised by the United States of America.”

Mr Vance said that as recently as a quarter-century ago Europe had “many vibrant militaries, at least militaries that could defend their own homelands”, but nowadays he believes “most European nations don’t have militaries that can provide for their reasonable defence”.

The vice president added: “The British are an obvious exception, the French are an obvious exception, the Poles are an obvious exception. But in some ways, they’re the exceptions that prove the rule, that European leaders have radically underinvested in security, and that has to change.”

Mr Vance said his message to Europe was the same one as that shared by then-French president General Charles de Gaulle during the height of the Cold War.

The US vice president said General de Gaulle “loved the United States of America, but (he) recognised what I certainly recognise, that it’s not in Europe’s interest, and it’s not in America’s interest, for Europe to be a permanent security vassal of the United States”.

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From 14 April: Watch JD Vance drop trophy

Mr Vance also suggested he believes a strong Europe would better for America.

“I don’t think that Europe being more independent is bad for the United States – it’s good for the United States. Just going back through history, I think – frankly – the British and the French were certainly right in their disagreements with Eisenhower about the Suez Canal,” he said.

Mr Vance added: “I think a lot of European nations were right about our invasion of Iraq. And frankly, if the Europeans had been a little more independent, and a little more willing to stand up, then maybe we could have saved the entire world from the strategic disaster that was the American-led invasion of Iraq.”

Asked about Mr Trump’s tariff regime and its impact on the stock market, Mr Vance said: “Any implementation of a new system is fundamentally going to make financial markets jittery.

“The president has been very consistent that this is a long-term play… Now, of course, you have to be responsive to what the business community is telling you, what workers are telling you, what bond markets are telling you. These are all variables that we have to be responsive to…. (to) make the policy successful”.

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Donald Trump says the US could deport ‘homegrown criminals’ to El Salvador jail

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Donald Trump says the US could deport 'homegrown criminals' to El Salvador jail

Donald Trump has suggested “homegrown criminals” in the US could be deported to jails in El Salvador – saying the US attorney general is “studying the laws right now”.

He made the comment while speaking alongside the Central American nation’s president, Nayib Bukele, in the White House.

The Trump administration has sent hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, since March.

When asked about the deportations – which were briefly blocked by a US court last month – Mr Trump said: “I’d like to go a step further.

“We also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, hit elderly ladies on the back of the head when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters.

“I’d like to include them in people to get out of the country.”

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 14, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Pic: Reuters

When pressed on the matter by a reporter, he replied: “They’re as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones too. I’m all for it.”

US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was present at the meeting, is “studying the laws right now”, the US president added.

“If we can do that, that’s good,” he said. “I’m talking about violent people, really bad people.

“We can do things with the president [of El Salvador] for less money and have great security. He does a great job with that. We have other we’re negotiating with too.”

The ‘world’s coolest dictator’ said all the right things for Trump

Nayib Bukele is a master of optics.

His look was slick – a black suit and long-sleeve black t-shirt beneath – fitting for the man who’s dubbed himself “the world’s coolest dictator”.

And the Salvadorian president said all the right things, aligning his few chosen words with US priorities.

“How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” he replied, when asked if he’d be returning a prisoner deported by mistake.

That will have gone down well in the White House.

The Oval Office has become a diplomatic minefield since Donald Trump returned to power.

Sir Keir Starmer’s letter from the King was considered a masterstroke. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s scrutinising of foreign policy, quite the opposite.

Others, like Ireland’s premier Micheal Martin, said as little as possible while seated next to Trump.

Bukele didn’t say much either, opting for a touch of deference to “the leader of the free world”.

He wants to position El Salvador as a key player in the region, not just a small country in Latin America.

His authoritarian leanings back home may appeal to the US president.

And Bukele is savvy enough to milk that for all it’s worth.

Read more:
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Smartphones and laptops excluded from US tariffs

The Trump administration has been deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to the El Salvador jail since mid-March, when the US president signed the Alien Enemies Act.

The law from 1798 has been invoked just three times before, in wartime. It allows the president to detain and deport immigrants living in the US legally if they are from countries seen as “enemies” of the government.

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Lawyers and immigrant rights groups have been unable to contact the men sent to the 40,000 capacity CECOT prison – the largest detention facility in Latin America.

A judge issued a temporary block on the deportations on 17 March, but this was lifted by the Supreme Court last week.

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