'50/50 chance, maybe less than that': Trump on tariff deal with EU

US President Donald Trump, while speaking at the White House before heading to Scotland on a private visit and to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said that there was a 50-50 chance of Washington being able to strike a deal with the European Union to reduce import tariffs. "I would say that we have a 50/50 chance, maybe less than that, but a 50/50 chance of making a deal with the EU," Trump told reporters. Trump, with an aim to slash his country's trade deficits, has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariffs by August 1. This came a day after the European Commission said a negotiated trade solution with the United States was within reach, even as EU members voted to approve counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of US goods in case the talks collapse.

Germany demands an end to uncertainty in the US tariffs dispute

Meanwhile, Germany wants to remove the “great uncertainty weighing on our industries” due to the current trade dispute between the United States and the European Union, Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said on Friday (July 25).

EU chief says to meet Trump

Moreover, the EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said that she will meet the American president in Scotland this weekend to address the EU-US tariffs standoff, with a week to go until an August 1 negotiating deadline.

"Following a good call with @POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong," she wrote on the social media platform X.

Trump on Epstein Files

Trump also talked about the ongoing controversy around the Epstein Files and once again dodged the claims of his involvement in the Epstein Files and called out Bill Clinton. When reporters asked him about the Epstein Files, the American president said, "You ought to be talking about Bill Clinton. Who went to the island 28 times. I never went to the island." When a reporter asked him if he wrote a letter to Jeffrey Epstein, Trump said, “I don't even know what they are talking about. Now, anybody could have written the letter and used my name. That's happened a lot.”

Trump also said that he hasn’t thought about pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn as he departed for Scotland, Trump said he’s allowed to do it but hasn’t considered granting a pardon to Maxwell.

Trump added that he “certainly can’t talk about pardons now.” The Justice Department’s No. 2 official met with Maxwell on Thursday as the department promises transparency following backlash over an earlier refusal to release more records in the Epstein investigation.