Keir Starmer used a visit to Washington to press Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbour
Keir Starmer tonight corrected another false statement from Donald Trump in an incredible “actually” moment – here it is in full.
The US President tried to claim the UK “gets money back by giving money” – but Mr Starmer interrupted to set Mr Trump straight. In full in the meeting, the Prime Minister said: “We’re not getting ours… quite a bit of ours was gifted, was given… there were some loans but it was mostly gifted, actually.”
The showdown happened at the Oval Office where Mr Starmer, 62, also stressed the alliance between the US and the UK was “the greatest alliance for prosperity and security … the world has ever seen”.
Turning to the Prime Minster, President Donald Trump said: “You have done very well over the years, haven’t you?” Sir Keir replied: “We have, I’m very proud of our country – but we’ve also always been there backing each other up.
“That is why this is the greatest alliance for prosperity and security, I think, the world has ever seen. Whenever necessary, we’ve absolutely backed each other up.” Mr Trump then asked: “Could you take on Russia by yourselves?” Mr Starmer smiled and said: “Well…”
Mr Starmer used his frank talking to press his US counterpart not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbour. The PM made the case to the Republican president to remain cautious as he goes about ending the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Mr Starmer started the visit by delivering an invitation from King Charles III to come to Scotland for a “historic” state visit — noting it was an “unprecedented” honour since Mr Trump, 78, already had been given the royal treatment by Queen Elizabeth II during his first term.
“You’ve created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal — a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world,” Mr Starmer told Trump. “That is the prize. But we have to get it right.”
Mr Trump said that talks to end the grinding war are “very well advanced” but also cautioned that there is only a narrow window to get a deal done. The US President said: “If it doesn’t happen quickly, it may not happen at all.”