Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer agreed to begin work on a new US-UK trade deal after the US President accepted an invitation from King Charles to visit Britain.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected at the White House on Friday to sign a deal that will give the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth mineral resources, which Trump has now described as a “backstop”.
Shortly after his arrival at the White House, Sir Keir handed his US counterpart a letter from the King, marked “private and confidential”, inviting him for a second state visit and talks ahead of time to discuss logistics and a potential programme.
Sir Keir has already said he is prepared to deploy British troops as part of a force to safeguard any peace deal, but only if the US offers security guarantees to European soldiers.
Asked if the US would aid British peacekeepers if they were attacked by Russia, Trump said: “I’ve always found about the British, they don’t need much help … they can take care of themselves.”.
