Keir Starmer has had ‘very good early engagement’ with Donald Trump, says No 10
Keir Starmer has had ‘very good early engagement’ with Donald Trump, says No 10
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Sir Keir Starmer has had “very good early engagement” with Donald Trump, Downing Street has said, after the leaders spoke for the first time since the US president’s inauguration. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman did not provide any updates on when Sir Keir might travel to Washington to meet the US president, or whether Mr Trump may come to the UK, but said Sir Keir is looking forward to building on the “deep relationship”.
There was a 45-minute call between the two men on Sunday, which No 10 said covered trade and the economy, as well as the Middle East. A number of potentially contentious issues including the Chagos Islands deal and Mr Trump’s stated desire for Nato allies to hit 5% GDP spending on defence were not discussed.
“It was a very warm call, and it was very constructive,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Monday. Sir Keir has had “very good early engagement” with President Trump, both before the inauguration and since, the spokesman added. “There’s a wide range of areas that we look forward to working on with President Trump and his entire team to build on our already very strong and deep relationship, whether it’s on trade, investment, whether it’s on security and defence, and the Prime Minister looks forward to meeting him soon.”.
On Monday, former foreign secretary James Cleverly said there is “diplomatic work to do” on the relationship between the UK and the US. He said it is “good that Keir Starmer had an extended conversation with President Trump” but suggested there are “bridges that need to be rebuilt” after criticism of the US president from Labour figures including Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
