‘A watershed moment’: how will Labour play Trump 2.0?
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Starmer open to second state visit for Donald Trump, amid worries about tariffs and recent setbacks to political relationship. David Lammy was visiting Washington last May when he realised Donald Trump was likely to win the presidential election. The soon-to-be foreign secretary held meetings with the Democrat and Republican campaigns – and found himself admiring the latter.
![[Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth raise their glasses to each other at the state banquet]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/63a7bb576e346087205e86504593483148c555cb/0_132_3492_2096/master/3492.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The slickness and professionalism of Trump’s 2024 operation, with its sharp messaging making inroads with black and Hispanic voters, seemed a far cry from his shambolic 2016 campaign. By comparison, Joe Biden’s appeared backward-looking and focused on attacking Trump’s record, while lacking a compelling narrative of its own.
![[Trump, Macron and Zelenskyy stand together for a photograph]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/de335a7e618657fb4035ffe46ccaa6d6ee58cc8d/0_187_5616_3370/master/5616.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Fast forward eight months, and Trump is days away from being inaugurated as president for the second time after an emphatic victory. Government figures are hopeful the groundwork that Keir Starmer and Lammy laid with Trump – including their two-hour dinner in New York in September – has put them in good stead, but they will be peering through their fingers on Monday after he takes office.
They know there is one thing that will appeal to Trump: the royal family. In December, Prince William scrambled at the last minute to attend the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris once it became clear Trump was going to be there. The prince met the president-elect for 40 minutes at the British embassy – long enough to annoy the French, according to a UK source.
“One of the most influential people in my view could be King Charles,” a former senior diplomat who has spent considerable time with Trump said. “Someone has to handle the relationship with Trump – I know he really loved the queen – and he has said he likes Charles.”.
