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.
