UK 'can't succeed', says Trump - read full transcript of his Sky News interview

Donald Trump characterised Britain's immigration policies as "insane" and lamented the "sad" state of America's special relationship with the UK in his latest call with Sky News.

In the interview, the US president said Britain had "bad immigration policies and bad energy policies", that the country is "being invaded", and that it "can't succeed" with its current approach.

He also said he is looking forward to welcoming King Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House, and insisted his strained relationship with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would not affect the visit.

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Mr Trump told US correspondent Mark Stone that the five-minute call should not be broadcast, but said Sky News could quote him.

Read the full transcript of their conversation here:

STONE: King Charles is coming, and we now have the details of the visit. I'm wondering how you're feeling about that.

TRUMP: Great. He's a great gentleman, a friend of mine. He's a fantastic person.

STONE: And which part of it are you looking forward to the most?

TRUMP: All of it. Just being with him. I've known him for a long time. He's wonderful. Wonderful person.

STONE: Do you think, sir, that your language about Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, makes it a bit awkward for the British government, that you're clearly frustrated with the prime minister and he's sending the King over here.

TRUMP: Well, no, I don't. I think that I like Starmer, but I think he's made a tragic mistake in closing the North Sea oil. You see, your energy prices are the highest in the world. And I think he's made a tragic mistake on immigration.

STONE: How would you describe the special relationship right now, sir?

TRUMP: With who?

STONE: With the UK…

TRUMP: Well, when we needed them…

STONE: It's always been known as the special relationship…

TRUMP: That's right.

STONE: …I think it was the Queen, the late Queen, who first sort of coined that…

TRUMP: She and I were great friends.

STONE: …with Winston Churchill.

TRUMP: She was fabulous. How is the relationship? It's the relationship where: when we asked them for help, they were not there. When we needed them, they were not there. When we didn't need them, they were not there. And they still aren't there.

STONE: It sounds like it's very bad. In that case.

TRUMP: Well, it's been better, but it's sad. And we gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed. But we gave them a trade deal that was very good because they're having a lot of problems. Energy is causing them problems because, think of it, they won't use the North Sea, and yet they buy a lot of their energy from Norway, which uses the North Sea, and they pay double the price. What's going on there? See, I love that country. I love your country and I would love to see it succeed. But if you have bad immigration policies and bad energy policies, you have the worst of both. You can't succeed, not possible.

STONE: But the prime minister might say it's up to him to deal with his own immigration policies and not necessarily for the president of the United States.

Read more: Trump swings from gushing praise for King to scathing criticism of Starmer

TRUMP: Well it is. But a lot of people ask me what I think about them, and I think they're insane. They're destroying… your country is being invaded.

STONE: By who?

TRUMP: By illegal immigrants from all over the world, including those from prisons, drug dealers, people from mental institutions. Your country is being invaded.

STONE: You know, sir, a lot of people might say that's fake news. And actually it's not, and maybe your information is not entirely accurate on immigration in the UK.

TRUMP: I've been very accurate here. We closed our border, we have nobody coming in, and we're getting rid of the bad ones that were sent in. We had some very bad ones - murderers. We had 11,888 murderers and most of them are gone. It's been pretty amazing what we've done.

STONE: Do you think your strained relationship with Keir Starmer, if I can call it that, will impact your relationship with the King or the visit?

TRUMP: No. Because… not at all. I've known the King for a long time, and he's not involved in that process.

STONE: But he's been asked to come here by Downing Street, by the prime minister.

TRUMP: I don't know who's asked. I mean, I didn't realise that, but if he is, that's my honour. It's my honour to have him at the White House. Listen, I have to go.

STONE: Can I ask you one more thing about Iran, sir? Do you think you'll have a deal by the time the King comes?

TRUMP: It's possible. Very possible. They're beaten up pretty bad. It's very possible.

STONE: All right, Mr President, thank you so much for your time.

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much.

(c) Sky News 2026: UK 'can't succeed', says Trump - read full transcript of his Sky News interview