Starmer: ‘I like and respect Trump – he is proper about Europe and he cherished our Queen’ | Politics | News | EUROtoday

After a barrage of combined messages from the White House in the direction of Britain, the Prime Minister has stated he and Donald Trump nonetheless have a “good relationship” and he “likes and respects” the US President. In an interview with the New York Times, Sir Keir spelled out his view of a shift within the world steadiness as Europe enters a brand new section of re-armament as America seeks to unburden itself of the heavy lifting it has been doing in defence of the continent.

Over the previous weeks, voices from the Trump administration have been bombastic at instances in the direction of the UK, with Vice-President JD Vance sparking outrage after dismissing a British army peacekeeping power in Ukraine as being from “some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”. And prior to now 24 hours, US particular envoy Steve Witkoff stated he “liked” Vladimir Putin and rubbished Downing Street’s plan to assist preserve a ceasefire in Ukraine as “simplistic”.

Mr Starmer, who was the primary Western chief to welcome President Zelensky after the Ukrainian chief’s disastrous Oval Office assembly final month, stated he nonetheless personally loved a superb relationship with Mr Vance and Witkoff’s boss, the Commander-in-Chief, Donald Trump.

He informed the New York Times: “On a person-to-person basis, I think we have a good relationship, I like and respect him. I understand what he’s trying to achieve.”

The British Prime Minister, who first met Mr Trump for a non-public dinner in Trump Tower final yr, stated the US President treasured his conferences with Queen Elizabeth II.

During their most up-to-date assembly within the Oval Office, Mr Starmer supplied a private invitation from Her Majesty’s son King Charles III for an unprecedented second state go to to Mr Trump, which the president appeared overjoyed to just accept.

The general temper of that assembly between the 2 males was cordial and pleasant, with the one signal of open discord occurring when JD Vance questioned free speech within the United Kingdom. Sir Keir responded, saying “we’ve had free speech for a very long time, it will last a long time, and we are very proud of that”.

Just days later throughout a gathering with Ukrainian chief President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Vance as soon as extra piped up from the couch within the Oval Office when he referred to as the wartime chief “disrespectful”. The ensuing ugly scenes then led to Mr Zelensky leaving the White House and never signing a proposed mineral deal as he flew as a substitute to London.

Speaking concerning the aftermath of the Oval Office showdown between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky, the PM revealed there had been “pressure” to “come out very critically” of the assembly.

He informed the New York Times: “On the day in which the Oval Office meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky didn’t go particularly well, we were under pressure to come out very critically with, you know, flowery adjectives to describe how others felt.

“I took the view that it was better to pick up the phone and talk to both sides to try and get them back on the same page.”