Welcome to Kent, uh, at the beginning of your vacation here in the UK. I know that you will be spending some time in the wonderful Cotswolds and the glorious Scotland.
That's right.
But here in Kent, there are beautiful, beautiful coastal walks and beaches. [Laughter] Castles, the home of Churchill, and this house has been sitting here since the 17th century. So, welcome. We're delighted to have you. And in a sense, this is an indication of the long-standing bonds that exist between our two countries.
I know that you personally have spent lots of time in the United Kingdom, and you know that I've spent lots of time, um, in the US, and I'm very, very fond of the country. Uh, our bilateral relations are in a wonderful place having struck our economic prosperity deal and working hard on a new technology partnership, which will be very, very exciting indeed.
Today, of course, we will be discussing the developing situation in the Middle East and in Gaza, which is of great concern and, of course, the ongoing war in Ukraine and our desire to see that come to an end. Um, and I'm sure we'll be reflecting on other issues, um, of global interest and concern. But welcome to my home here, um, in the wonderful county of Kent.
Thank you. It's good to be here. Well, uh, thank you so much for having me, Mr. Foreign Secretary. It's good to see you all and good to see your team here. As you said, this is a very special relationship between our two countries, and I think me being here is just another -- another part of that. So, we've already -- in the brief time that we've been here, my kids have fallen asleep on your floor.
[Laughter] Uh, we've gone fishing in the lake outside, and unfortunately, the one strain on the special relationship is that all of my kids caught a fish. But the -- the Foreign Secretary did not. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Uh, it is great to be here in Kent again. My wife and I love this section -- this area of the UK. We actually were here a couple of years ago.
We went to Dover, uh, and to the Cathedral Canterbury. So, we love this country, and we certainly love this part of the country. And so, it's great to be here. As, uh, as David said, we have a lot to discuss. There's a lot going on in the world. Of course, the situation in the Middle East, the situation with Ukraine and Russia.
There's a lot of news there and a lot of things to update each other on. I believe that we're going to talk about our economic partnerships both in technology but also the broader shared economic relationship that we have. And we're so thrilled about that. Uh, but just on a personal note, I have to say that I really have become, um, a good friend, and David has become a good friend of mine.
And so, it's great to spend some time here with him and his family. On the trip over here, my three-year-old daughter in particular kept on asking if she was going to get to hang out with Maya. The answer happily was yes, and you've been very, very gracious hosts to me and the whole family. So, we're very grateful to that.
And to the people of England, I really love this country and in particular, having never been to this beautiful house before and seeing the surrounding area, I just say that the people who built it, the people who sustained it, I think really love the human spirit. And being here lifts up the human spirit.
And so, I feel -- from one vice president to the people of England, thank you for having such a beautiful place for foreigners like me to come and talk about the issues of the day because we really appreciate it, and we're really thrilled -- thrilled to be here. So, to David and your team, thank you so very much.
Thank you.
Absolutely. Yeah.
Did you catch a fish, sir?
Uh, I caught a few actually. [Laughter] Yeah, I don't want to brag, but we did OK. [Laughter] Well, you know, David, I guess when you were in opposition, right, and I had just gotten elected to the -- to the United States Senate -- obviously we come from sort of different political spectrums, but he was -- he was kind enough to make time on a visit to DC. We got to know each other a little bit then and just kept on seeing each other.
And our families enjoy each other's company very much, which always helps. But we just -- we care about this relationship, and we care about the fact that, uh, that we're separated by an ocean and, uh, I guess as Churchill said, by common language, that we have a lot in common. And there's -- there's a lot to do and a lot to work on together.
You know, David once said to me and this is probably a couple of years ago that there's this feeling that the world is in a state of incredible tension, and I certainly felt that a couple of years ago. I think that the president of the United States for the last six or seven months has done a lot to lower that tension, but there's a lot that the United Kingdom and the United States can do, I think, to bring greater peace and greater stability to the world.
And so, we share that conviction, and that's made it easy for us to spend time together and work on the issues of the day.
Mr. Vice President, some big issues in the Middle East, what do you make of the UK's decision to recognize the state of Palestine? Do you think it's a bad decision.
Well, it's one of the things we're going to talk about. Obviously, the United Kingdom is going to make its decision. We have no plans to recognize a Palestinian state. I don't know what it would mean to really recognize a Palestinian state given the lack of a functional government there. What the president has made very clear is our two goals are very simple right now vis a vis the situation in Israel and Gaza.
Number one, it's we want to make it so that Hamas cannot attack innocent Israeli civilians ever again, and we think that has to come through the eradication of Hamas. Second, the president has been very moved by these terrible images of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. So, we want to make sure that we solve that problem.
I think all of us can work on how to solve that problem. Obviously, it's not an easy problem to solve or it would have already been dealt with, but we share, I think, that focus and that goal. We may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal, and we'll talk about that today.
Mr. Vice President, what do you make of President Trump's comments last week about you the likely front runner -- [Laughter]
I don't want to talk about lowly things like politics in this grand house. Come on. Look, I think my view on the politics of 2028 is I'm not really focused even on the election in 2026, much less one, two years after that. And if we do a good job for the American people, the politics will take care of itself.
So, I'm going to try to do a good job for the American people just as David's trying to do a good job for the people of the UK.
Mr. Vice President, was the president given a heads up about Israel's intention to occupy Gaza City?
I'm not going to speak to private conversations between the Israeli government and our government. I think the president obviously has been very clear about his goals about what he wants to accomplish in the Middle East, and he's going to keep on doing that. The president, as you know, speaks to these issues commonly.
I'm sure that he'll talk at some point to the media about his response to what's happened -- or what was announced earlier today in Gaza. But our goals are very clear. We want to make it so that Hamas can't attack innocent people. We want to solve the humanitarian problems in Gaza. We're working incredibly hard, the president and the entire team, to make sure that happens.
I mean, we've been in constant negotiations and conversations even the last 24 hours about how to get more aid into Gaza, about how to solve that humanitarian problem, and also how to get Hamas to a position where they can't continue to threaten the citizens and the civilians of Israel. So, there's a lot of work to do there.
There's a lot of common objectives here. There is some, I think, disagreement about how exactly to accomplish those common objectives. But look, it's a tough situation. Of course, we're not going to know exactly how to solve a very complicated problem. As the president has said himself, people in some ways have been fighting for thousands of years.
If it was easy to bring peace to that region of the world, it would have been done already.
Mr. Vice President, you've expressed some concerns in the past about free speech in the United Kingdom and Europe more broadly. Do you bring any kind of a message to the Foreign Secretary today on that subject?
Well, I'd say there is -- I've raised concerns about free speech in the United States of America. I think the entire collective West, the transatlantic relationship, our NATO allies, certainly the United States under the Biden administration got a little too comfortable with censoring rather than engaging with a diverse array of opinions.
So, that's been my view. Obviously, I've raised some criticism and concerns about our friends on this side of the Atlantic. But the thing that I'd say to the people of England or to anybody else, to David is many of the things that I worry most about were happening in the United States from 2020 to 2024. I just don't want other countries to follow us down what I think was a very dark path under the Biden administration.
So, in the spirit of having a good conversation and recognizing the secretary has a lot of things to do, unless you want to say anything else.
I'm good.
OK. Thank you all so much. Good to see you all.
Thank you.
Can I just ask just one more question?
[Crosstalk]
If it's the Foreign Secretary, yes. I'm done answering questions.
Foreign Secretary, um, the UK has taken a different tack on the situation in Palestine than the United States. Do you feel that your friendship with the vice president might help, you know, have a discussion about ceasefire?
You know, Prime Minister Starmer is either meeting or discussing these issues with President Trump on a weekly basis, and I am doing the same with Secretary of State Rubio, um, or Vice President Vance. Uh, and the truth is what we all want to see is a ceasefire. What we all want to see are the hostages come out.
And we are hugely concerned by the humanitarian suffering, uh, that we're seeing in Gaza particularly. So, it is bringing that to an end that we want to see. I am concerned, um, about what is developing in Gaza at this time and the recent decision by the cabinet, uh, and hugely concerned as I think a lot of Israeli people are about the impact particularly on the hostages.
And we'll be able to discuss these issues, um, in the hours ahead. Thank you very much.
Thank you all for.
[Crosstalk]
Have you learned anything from each other?
We've learned a lot. I learn a lot.
Absolutely. I learned a lot from him.
We enjoy the cut and thrust of politics. The cut and thrust of politics is what excites me. Um, look, the truth is I was blessed to go to Harvard, um, and I think the vice president went to a university not quite as good. [Laughter]
That's right.
And so, we enjoy that, um, political debate and discussion, um, particularly. But, you know, there are areas where, uh, there are actually joint concern. Um, we both have a joint concern about outcomes for working people. Uh, that is the truth of it.
Absolutely.
Um, and we have also discussed issues like, um, uh, irregular and illegal migration and how we deal with those issues. So, um, there are commonalities and then there are differences, uh, and that is the joy of living in democracies like ours.
[Crosstalk]
See you all.
Thank you, press.