Keir Starmer certainly seemed to hit it off with Donald Trump during his trip to Washington, DC this week, but we want to know if you were impressed with the Prime Minister during his White House visit?
It’s been a whirlwind few days for Keir Starmer as he headed to the White House to meet US President Donald Trump.
The PM arrived armed with a letter from King Charles inviting Trump to come to the UK for a state visit, making him the only US President to make two state visits to the UK. The two leaders then shared a lunch before getting to work in the Oval Office to hash out trade deals, peace talks, and more.
Before heading to the US, Sir Keir stated that Mr Trump “can be trusted”, and also that he “understands that Russian President Putin started the war in Ukraine” – something which Trump has publicly spoken out against, having described Ukrainian President Zelensky as a ‘dictator’ and naming Ukraine as the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ahead of his trip to the White House, Sir Keir promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of the GDP from April 2027, in part to persuade President Trump that European nations are serious about security.
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While all this has been going on, there have been concerns that the PM has not criticised President Trump enough amid his love for executive orders, transphobic and racist rhetoric, and landgrabbing attempts. During the visit, Mr Starmer said: “[the UK and US friendship is] the greatest alliance for prosperity and security … the world has ever seen”.
In return, Trump said: “You have done very well over the years, haven’t you?”
Mr Starmer also said that he and Trump did not discuss the US President’s comments that Canada ‘should become the 51st US state’. The Prime Minister was seen correcting Trump’s statements on several occasions during his White House visit, echoing the moves made by French President Emmanuel Macron.
During and after the talks in the Oval Office, President Trump refused to confirm or deny whether Sir Keir had talked him out of increased tariffs on UK imports into the US, stating: “He tried. He was working hard, I’ll tell you that.”
He then added: “I think there’s a very good chance that in the case of these two great friendly countries we could end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary. We’ll see.”
Trump also said he was ‘surprised’ at how well he and Mr Starmer got along, stating that the current PM was ‘different’ to Boris Johnson, whom President Trump met during his first term. It’s safe to say, Keir Starmer left an impression on President Trump, who seems to be a fan of the current Prime Minister. But we want to know – were you impressed with Keir Starmer during his White House visit?
Vote in our poll above and let us know how you feel in the comments below.
