In a gushing interview, Foreign Secretary David Lammy heaped praise on Donald Trump – who he previously branded a ‘woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath’
David Lammy has heaped praise on Donald Trump – who he previously branded a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”.
In a gushing interview on the BBC’s Today Programme, the Foreign Secretary described the erratic Republican – who will today become US President for the second time – as “generous” and “funny”. Mr Lammy branded Trump a “revisionist actor” and not in any sense a “warmonger”.
The Labour frontbencher, who met the President-elect in September, said: “Two things that I took away from my extended dinner with Donald Trump in September – this is not a man who, in any sense, is a warmonger.
“I really had a powerful sense that, in reckoning with the world’s most malign interests, he was very clear that he wanted to be strong and powerful. He described him as a “revisionist actor” who “wants to change the rules of the game”.
It is a far cry from his 2019 view of Trump, when he branded him “deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic” and “no friend of Britain”. Mr Lammy said: “In this role, I’ve said that the approach has got to be progressive realism, and that is that you meet the world as it is, not as you would wish it to be.”
He added: “The Donald Trump I met … had incredible grace, generosity, very keen to be a good host, very funny, very, very, very friendly, very warm, I have to say, about the UK, our royal family, Scotland.”
The Foreign Secretary said Keir Starmer will visit Washington for talks with Trump within weeks. He stated: “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. 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.”
