Donald Trump Meets With UK PM Keir Starmer

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Facts

  • Former US President and 2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump met with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy for a two-hour dinner on Thursday in New York.[1]
  • Speaking before the meeting, Starmer stated his intent to 'establish a relationship' between himself and Trump and claimed to be a 'great believer in personal relationships on the world stage.'[2][3]
  • Trump also claimed during a New York press conference before the meeting that he thought Starmer was 'very nice,' had '[run] a great race,' and was 'popular.' Trump also described UK politician Nigel Farage as 'a fantastic person.'[4][3]
  • Starmer has stated that he wishes to meet both US presidential candidates prior to the country's November election, claiming a meeting with Vice Pres. Kamala Harris has faced 'usual diary challenges' and commented that the US and UK's relationship 'always sits above whoever holds the particular office.'[5]
  • In 2019, Starmer posted on social media that Trump's endorsement of former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson 'tells you everything you need to know about what is wrong with Boris Johnson's politics and why he isn’t fit to be Prime Minister,' while In 2017 Lammy alleged that Trump was a 'racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser [sic].'[6][7]
  • Earlier this year, Lammy stated that he would find 'common cause' with Donald Trump 'on behalf of the national interests' of the UK and the 'security of much of the world.'[8]

Sources: [1]BBC News (a), [2]The Epoch Times, [3]Guardian, [4]c-span.org, [5]Sky News, [6]X (a), [7]X (b) and [8]BBC News (b).

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by The Telegraph and Breitbart. Given the history of the Labour Party's lengthy criticism of Trump, it is likely that Thursday's meeting was a tense affair despite the public niceties. Now required to act as the UK government is expected to do toward its most important ally, Starmer, Lammy, and his Labour colleagues may begin to regret their prior holier-than-thou grandstanding from the opposition benches and should feel extremely lucky that Trump seems willing to put past comments to bed.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Youtube. While the importance of a working US-UK relationship is well understood, questions must be asked of Starmer and Labour's inability to stand up against a reprehensible individual who continues to undermine the core values of equality and democracy. The prime minister's decision to cozy up to a serial criminal is one that will leave many feeling disheartened and uncomfortable.

Predictions