Later today, Donald Trump will return to the White House for a second historic term after he is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The official swearing-in service will take place indoors, on account of the bitter Washington DC weather, at around 5pm GMT. Trump’s second inaugural address will follow, before he departs Capitol Hill to sign a series of tone-setting executive orders.
It’s a day of ominous pomp and ceremony for Keir Starmer. In a statement released overnight, the UK prime minister paid tribute to the “depth of friendship” between the 47th president and Britain, and said that the UK-US relationship “will continue to flourish for years to come.”
But the standard diplomatic niceties belie discernible strains between the UK government and incoming US administration. Starmer, the bespectacled human rights lawyer, could not cut a sharper contrast with Trump, the bombastic and wildly unpredictable property tycoon-turned-spiritual leader of the US right.
Understandable nerves in Whitehall have precipitated the creation of a “quad” of ministers to war-game scenarios. Starmer, foreign secretary David Lammy, chancellor Rachel Reeves and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds are those reported to be engaging in such discussions — with tariffs and trade wars at the centre.
Meanwhile, the man Starmer has tasked with ingratiate himself to the incoming US administration — and estimate its disruptive potential — is Lord Mandelson. The Blairite grandee’s selection as Starmer’s US ambassador reflects the importance No 10 continues to place on fostering cordial relations.
But Mandelson’s MAGA reconnaissance mission could already be in jeopardy. No 10 insists Trump should be flattered by the big beast’s presence in DC; however, recent reports reflect a prevailing scepticism in MAGA HQ. It has even been suggested that Trump could block Mandelson’s appointment over concerns about his credentials and “links to China”. Perhaps significantly, Trump aide Chris LaCivita greeted Mandelson’s nomination for the job by branding him an “absolute moron” on X (formerly Twitter).
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The tension underlying the Starmer-Trump relationship is also visible in the assemblage of UK politicians, adorned in the relevant MAGA apparel, who have pilgrimaged to Washington DC to bask in the purported glory of the president-elect’s second coming.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has been a staple of the MAGAverse since 2016 and Trump’s first presidential election campaign. Late last year, Starmer joked that the former UKIP chief had spent “so much time in America recently, I was half expecting to see him on the immigration statistics.”
Unsurprisingly, Farage is back in the US today. But he is joined by a host of UK right-wingers, hailing from both the Conservative Party and his own Reform vehicle. Former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss will be in attendance this afternoon, alongside shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel and former home secretary Suella Braverman (with her husband Rael, a Reform member).
Those attending speak in similar fawning tones about the president-elect. Braverman has claimed that, despite the dismal Washington weather, there is a “buzz of hope and optimism in the air” in the city.
Last week, Truss posted to X: “The new Donald Trump term can’t come soon enough. The West needs it.”
Priti Patel, attending the inauguration in her official capacity as shadow foreign secretary, said: “Our two parties, the Conservative Party and the Republican Party, have a decades-long relationship standing up for prosperity and freedom across the world.
“And post-inauguration, our parties will continue to work together on those shared values to secure prosperity and freedom across the globe.”
In this regard, diplomatic rigour cannot disguise the fact that Trump and Starmer represent disparate, and conflicting, political strands. The enduring risk for the prime minister is that his vindicated, and increasingly vengeful, US counterpart could exercise some ideological grudge. Last October of course, Trump’s campaign made a formal complaint of election interference about Labour officials travelling to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris.
Farage and his fellow MAGA outriders in the UK will seize on any suggestions of Trump-Starmer friction, (see the Reform leader’s contributions on the Chagos Islands, for instance). The awkward sight of Farage publicly briefing the government on the views of the US administration — sensationally transgressing diplomatic norms — could be a common one.
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And what if Trump, like some of his closest acolytes, decides he wants to export the MAGA revolution? Already this year, Elon Musk’s deluge of conspiracist invective has hampered the government’s development. In a pre-inauguration rally yesterday, Trump restated his intention to “protect” Musk, who will advise him on government efficiency (and probably much else besides).
On top of this, the UK’s other progressive parties are putting pressure on the prime minister to stand up to the incoming president. Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said in an overnight statement that Trump “returning to the White House will be deeply worrying for millions of people in the UK and around the world.”
The Green Party, in more trenchant terms, has labelled Trump “a misogynist, a racist, a convicted criminal and, we believe, a fascist.”
How Starmer navigates the twist and turns of the Trump era will arguably define his premiership. Both the prime minister and US president-elect are contracted to remain in office until 2029 — meaning they will share the international stage as treaty-bound allies for years to come.
But already, the Starmer-Trump relationship has baggage. The key question hanging over the next four years then, from a UK perspective, is whether their alliance is politically and/or diplomatically viable. MAGA movers and shakers, on both sides of the Atlantic, will be lobbying for conflict.
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David Lammy: It is ‘right’ that Donald Trump reviews Chagos Islands deal
Lunchtime soundbite
‘People should be mindful of what they say as it could jeopardise a criminal trial. But once this trial is over, Keir Starmer must be held to account. What did he know and when?’
— Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick uses a social media post about the trial of Southport stabbing suspect, Axel Rudakubana, to claim “Keir Starmer must be held to account”.
Now try this…
‘“A watershed moment”: how will Labour play Trump 2.0?’
Starmer open to second state visit for Donald Trump, amid worries about tariffs and recent setbacks to political relationship, reports the Guardian’s Eleni Courea.
‘Our survey. Jenrick is ConservativeHome readers’ 2024 MP of the Year’
Via ConservativeHome.
‘Want to butter up Donald Trump? Roll out King Charles’
Politico reports.
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