Sir Keir Starmer will meet with presidential hopeful Donald Trump in New York on Thursday, as he seeks to establish closer personal ties with the man who could be the leader of the UK’s closest ally within months.
The Prime Minister is travelling to Trump Tower for the meeting shortly before his address at the United Nations General Assembly.
Starmer had said on the way to the US that he hoped to meet with both Trump, the Republican candidate, and Democrat Kamala Harris before the US election in November.
He told reporters in New York the meeting was “to establish a relationship between the two of us” — building on the close ties he said there were between UK officials and both the Democrat and Republican campaigns.
Starmer said he still wanted to meet with Harris when time allowed, suggesting scheduling clashes were the reason behind the failure to do so during his trip to the US.
The first face-to-face meeting between Starmer and Trump comes at a challenging diplomatic time for the UK, US and their other western allies — with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East dominating talks at the UN.
There are concerns that, if Trump were re-elected as President, it could leave the UK and Europe potentially more exposed from a security perspective.
In particular, Trump has made his reluctance to continue supporting Ukraine — in the fight against Russia — clear.
But Starmer said the “special relationship” between the UK and US is more important than whoever is in office.
And he insisted the relationship was stronger than ever because of — rather than in spite — of global challenges and conflicts.
Asked if he would be prepared to stand up to Trump on such issues, Starmer said: “The first thing I think is important to say in relation to this is we’ve obviously had a special relationship with the US for a long time, forged in really difficult circumstances.
“That always sits above whoever holds the particular office, either in the US or the UK. And it is really important.”
He added: “I think it’s probably as strong now as it’s ever been, in relation to the Middle East and Ukraine. And you’ve seen how closely I’ve been working with the US in relation to both of those issues.”
“The US people will decide who they want as their president, and we will work with whoever is President, as you would expect. I’m not going to speculate on what any particular issues may be the other side of the election.”
Asked what his message to the US presidential candidate would be, Starmer said: “I have said a number of times I want to meet both candidates. We’ve now got the opportunity to meet Trump, which is good. Obviously, I still want to speak to Harris as well.”
Speaking ahead of the meeting, he said: “It’ll be really to establish a relationship between the two of us. I’m a great believer in personal relations on the international stage.
“I think it really matters that you know who your counterpart is in any given country, and know them personally, get to know them face to face. So it’s really along those lines.”
Starmer would not be drawn on what the two would actually be discussing in their meeting.
But the PM insisted the UK delegation in the US was already working closely with “both camps” in the Presidential race.
“So it’s not the sort of start of something, it’s the continuation of those good relations that have been there with both camps,” he added.
