Keir Starmer to fly to Washington 'within weeks' for talks with Donald Trump, signals David Lammy
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Sir Keir Starmer will fly to Washington for talks with Donald Trump within weeks, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has signalled. World leaders are vying to be among the first to get a White House meeting with the new US president. Given the close ties between America and Britain, the Prime Minister would be expected to be high up on the list.
But Labour politicians have been withering in past criticism of Trump and the party was reported to have angered some of his allies when it emerged some of its ranks were heading over to America to support Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. As Washington prepared for Trump’s inauguration on Monday, Mr Lammy floated a possible timescale for a meeting between Sir Keir and the new president.
“I think that when you look at past prime ministers, it’s taken between a week or up to a month to come to Washington,” said the Foreign Secretary. “The importance is the strength of the relationship and the serious discussions that we have. “In the end, we have war in Europe, we have a ceasefire in the Middle East, but it’s incredibly fragile, and there are important malign actors like Iran that we’ve got to discuss with the United States and, of course, our growing trade relations with the United States.
“So, lots to discuss, and I’m very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks.”. The US President-elect is weighing up whether to approve the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UK's new ambassador in Washington, the fate of the Chagos Islands deal and the extent to which tariffs will hit Britain.
