Most of Thursday’s papers lead with Donald Trump’s fresh attack on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a “dictator” and warning that he “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left”. The Daily Mail says the US president appalled the world and sparked international outrage with his remark.
The Daily Express also reports on the global “backlash” to what it describes as Trump’s “onslaught”. It says Trump’s “dictator” comment is being described by critics as one of the most shameful remarks ever made by any US president.
The Guardian suggests the US and Ukraine are now heading towards an “irreconcilable rift” after Trump’s “fiery rant”. It says the president’s comments came after Zelensky accused him of being “trapped” in a “bubble” of Russian disinformation. The paper describes the tensions between Washington and Kyiv as unprecedented.
The Daily Star’s take is to describe Trump as “Putin’s poodle”, alongside an edited image of the US president as an orange dog being walked on a lead by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The paper calls Trump a “wingnut manbaby”, and suggests his remarks will come as a delight to Putin.
A few of the papers focus on the response from Sir Keir who, the Times reports, “rebuked” Trump over the remarks. It says Downing Street issued a “pointed statement” which, while it didn’t criticise Trump directly, “flatly contradicted” him. It comes less than a week before Sir Keir is due to meet Trump in Washington, the Times adds.
The Daily Mirror says Sir Keir called Zelensky on Wednesday night pledging the UK’s support. It also reports that the UK will “press ahead” with plans to give £4.5bn in aid to Ukraine this year. Officials told the paper that the UK would give an extra £1.5bn – on top of its current £3bn annual commitment – to help “keep Ukraine in the fight until they get peace”.
The i newspaper also reports on the “global outrage”, and says UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also joined the condemnation of Trump’s “dictator” claim. The paper also reports more details of what the US president said, including his claim that Zelensky had done a “terrible job” and played Biden “like a fiddle”.
For the Financial Times, Trump’s suggestion that Zelensky “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left” represents his “most overt threat yet to end the war on terms favourable to Moscow”.
The Daily Telegraph says Trump’s attack gives the “clearest signal” that he will not support Ukraine in the same way that Europe or his predecessor Joe Biden have. Meanwhile the main photo on the front page of the Telegraph – as well as others – is of British tennis player Emma Raducanu who, the paper says, broke down on court after she spotted a man who had “exhibited fixated behaviour” towards her in the crowd.
And with a separate story, the Metro asks: “Heard the one about comedy on the NHS?” It reports that trials have begun to see if “comedy on prescription” can help improve people’s mental health and reduce NHS costs by offering alternatives to anti-depressants. Company Craic Health has been given grant funding to run comedy-based workshops to help people who are isolated or lonely, the paper says. The Metro says anti-depressants are currently being taken by 8.7 million people in England.
It says the “war of words” between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky escalated after the American president made what the paper calls “his most overt threat yet to end the war on terms favourable to Moscow”.
The Guardian says President Trump’s comments were “rife with falsehoods”.
The Matt cartoon in the Daily Telegraph plays on the legendary honesty of George Washington, who once admitted to his father that he’d cut down his beloved cherry tree with his hatchet. The drawing shows Trump as a child, beside a fallen tree, telling his father: “I cannot tell a lie, the cherry tree started it”.
For its part, the Daily Star pictures Trump on its front page as a giant orange poodle, on a leash held by Vladimir Putin.
In its editorial, the Sun calls Trump’s attack on Zelensky a “rant beneath the dignity of his office”. It says his job is not just about maximising his country’s profits, but about discerning right from wrong with absolute moral clarity.
The Mail says Trump is behaving more like an imperial potentate than the leader of the free world.
But, writing in the i, Patrick Cockburn dismisses the idea that Trump has been hoodwinked by Vladimir Putin, or has betrayed Ukraine. He says: “Much better than perpetually sneering at Trump would be for European leaders to emerge from one of their incessant conferences with an achievable peace plan of their own.”
The UK’s response to the row is the focus for the Times. It says Sir Keir Starmer “rebuked” the American president in a “pointed” statement which described Zelensky as Ukraine’s “democratically elected leader”.
The Telegraph says President Trump’s comments were the clearest signal that he will not support Ukraine in the same way as his predecessor – and it says the prime minister “sided with” Zelensky in the row.
The Daily Mirror reports the UK is to press ahead with £4.5bn in aid to Kyiv. It sums up Britain’s message as: “To Ukraine… with love”.
The Times says a new study has found that hi-vis jackets designed to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe are actually invisible to modern car safety systems. It says tests in the US found cars fitted with automatic braking – which uses cameras and radar to spot obstacles – crashed into dummies wearing reflective strips. The car fims involved said they would examine the results to improve systems.
And several papers report on new trials in which comedy is being prescribed on the NHS.
The i says the aim is to show whether laughter really is the best medicine, especially for people who are lonely or isolated.
The Telegraph says the trial will also see if stand-up can lower the bill for treating mental health problems. The founder of the company behind the scheme says that teaching kids “how to improvise and giggle is surely better than prescribing anti-depressants”.
