What ‘wooden’ Starmer MUST do to earn Trump’s respect revealed by May & Rishi staffers – as PM faces ‘Churchill moment’

KEIR Starmer must hit Trump with sharp quips, flattery and an alpha male stance for a successful presidential meeting, according to former No10 staffers. The Prime Minister will be "briefed up to his eyeballs" and is likely nervous, but must be "firm" - or the conversation could fly "off the rails".

The crunch head-to-head is the most important for a British PM "since Churchill's in World War Two", Tim Willasey-Wilsey, a former senior foreign diplomat, told The Sun. He said Starmer has a "great opportunity" today to build a relationship with Trump after the US president blindsided Europe and veered towards Russia.

Graham Davies, Rishi Sunak's former presentation coach, told us "wooden" Starmer must nail key power poses and explained how to avoid a Macron-style arm wrestle. And Gavin Barwell, who many times steered May through Don's choppy waters, said Starmer must "talk himself up" to face down "creature of mood" Trump.

The key issue the pair will hammer out is that of security guarantees for Ukraine in the case of any peace deal. Starmer's only hope is to "do what Starmer does best - being serious", Willasey-Wilsey, a visiting professor at KCL, said. He added: “The PM isn’t charismatic, but he’s respectful and sensible. He's got to avoid all that bouncy stuff Macron did.".

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, had a chummy meeting with Trump on Monday - and has since compared notes with Starmer. Davies - who has coached Michael Gove and Kemi Badenoch - agrees. He said: "Keir Starmer will always be wooden, because he's a straight, serious, prosecution, barrister. He shouldn’t try and change his DNA.”.

Trump, meanwhile, prefers to "shout loudly and wave all sorts of sticks", according to Davies. One hurdle will be the famously unpredictable and often loopy Trump handshake. The president has shattered convention in the past by strolling hand-in-hand with Theresa May and white-knuckling Macron.

Davies said: "Trump likes to pull the leader towards him, to try and quite literally catch him off balance. “Keir Starmer, should stand with one foot slightly in front of the other, to make sure he's braced for that. “He should then let Trump pump for as long as he wants to.”.

Sir Keir must also strike a power stance on the White House chairs by perching right at the front, Davies said. He advised Starmer to mirror Trump's seating position - as Macron did - where "his buttocks are almost hanging off" the chair. Trump is notorious for loping between subjects - so Starmer must expect the unexpected, the officials warned.

Barwell found out the hard way that a Trump meeting is "unlike any other world leader", and follows his wild "chain of thought". He revealed May's meeting with Trump often bore "virtually no relation" to what his team prepped for. The No10 staffer said Starmer will be at the mercy of "creature-of-mood" Trump's temperament, and it will quickly become clear what tone the meeting will take.

As Chief of Staff in July 2018, Barwell had to deal with a fizzing curve-ball ahead of May's meeting with Trump. The president said in an interview with The Sun that May's Brexit plan would "probably kill" any trade deal with the US - hours before the leaders sat down.

He said Starmer will have "war-gamed" the meeting in advance - even practising with an aide "role-playing Trump" to cover any eventuality. The president's lurching conversation style is fuelled by an "incredibly short attention span", according to Willasey-Wilsey.

Willasey-Wilsey said the president is "amazingly vain" - but that Starmer can use to his advantage. He said: "Keir can appeal to his vanity a little bit - he is the president of the United States after all. But he's got to do it without pleading.". Starmer should tickle Trump's belly a little, according to Barwell, by "beginning with some flattery - a bit of fluffing him up", but avoid going too far.

Keir tried to soften up Trump by announcing this week that spending on defence would rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027. Willasey-Wilsey said Trump - who splashes 3.4 per cent on defence - "won't be wowed" by the hike, but it is "in the right direction".

The US president has been called out for incorrect statements on a number of occasions. The experts said Starmer must be on high-alert, ready to stop false claims slipping through the net - as Macron managed so well on Monday. Barwell said Starmer must be prepared to be "blunt sometimes" and call out sloppy claims, but warned: "Too much correction, and the meeting could become a constant row.”.

He said Keir must strike the "right balance of flattery and assertiveness". It will be particularly important to correct any Trump errors in the joint press conference, Davies said, but without pitting him as an "enemy". The presentation coach said Starmer can use his "precise and ponderous" nature to stop Trump from "bulldozing through" with "bluster and braggadocio".