Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer hit an unlikely bromance in the Oval Office on Thursday.
The two leaders insisted that the special relationship was alive and well, despite the tensions about Ukraine, in which Mr. Trump said that there was a 'very good chance' that the two countries could agree to a trade agreement that would be 'great for both'.
In an extraordinary exchange of 30 minutes in the White House, the president and Prime Minister praise each other and played the huge political gap between them.
Sir Keir set the tone for the Oval Office Love-In by producing theatrical from a letter from the king that invited the royal loving president for an unprecedented second state visit. Mr. Trump immediately accepted the invitation and offered Sir Keir a lifeline on various important political issues.
The president hinted that the prime minister was close to him to exclude the UK from harmful rates that were made for goods from China, the EU and Canada.
Asked if Sir Keir had convinced him, Mr. Trump said: “He tried. He was hard at work, I will tell you – he earns what they pay for him there.
“I think there is a very good chance that in the case of these two great, friendly countries we can end up very well with a real trade agreement where the rates would not be necessary.”
The two men gave few details about what a trade agreement could entail. But Sir Keir suggested that it would be aimed at technology and predicted that cooperation between the two countries could deliver a 'moonshot' to AI, such as healing cancer.
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have overlooked each other with praise and played the enormous political gap between them
The President and Prime Minister shaking hand in the Oval Office in the White House
Mr. Trump also indicated that he will not express Sir Keir's controversial plan to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
But Sir Keir did not succeed in getting the extensive 'backstop' of the American safety he is looking for before he tends thousands of British troops to preserve peace in Ukraine if a truce is agreed.
The Prime Minister told Mr. Trump that American was needed to guarantee a 'permanent peace'. But the president was ambiguous about what he, if there was something, was willing to provide. He said that the British “don't need help” and suggested that Vladimir Putin could be trusted to adhere to the conditions of every peace agreement.
Pushed to the question of whether the US would intervene if Russian troops attacked British troops, he added: 'I have always given the British. They don't need much help … they can take care of themselves … “
On a critical day for the Western Alliance:
- Mr. Trump said for the first time that he wants to get 'land back' for Ukraine as part of a peace agreement;
- Ukraine -President VolodyMyr Zensky will visit the White House today to sign a deal that hand over the rights over a huge part of the rare minerals of his country;
- The American president said Great -Britain had done 'the right one' when leaving the EU, adding to it: “It will work out itself, I think it has already worked out itself”;
- He played his controversial description of the Lord Zelensky as a “dictator” and said, “Did I say that? I can't believe I said that;
- Sir Keir insisted that freedom of expression did not withdraw to the UK after vice-president JD Vance repeated his warning that the UK lost its traditional values.
The Prime Minister told Mr. Trump that American was needed to guarantee a 'permanent peace' in Ukraine
Starmer and Trump depart from a press conference in the eastern room of the White House
The president was pleased with the letter from King Charles who invited him to Balmoral to discuss a second state visit. He described the king as 'a beautiful man' and added: “And the United Kingdom is a beautiful country that I know very well.”
In opposition, Labor was bright critical of President Trump, with foreign secretary David Lammy burning him a 'tiran in a touch'. But Mr. Trump insisted that he and the Prime Minister 'hurry up very famous, as you would say', adding that he was a 'special man'.
Asked what the two men, who have grimly different political backgrounds, have in common, Mr Trump said, “He loves our country and I too – that is our common theme.”
The American president also paid tribute to the wife Victoria of Sir Keir, who is not traveling.
He discussed his relationship with the PM and said: 'We just have a great relationship. We actually had a good relationship. We met a few times and I am very impressed by him, and very impressed by his wife.
“I have to say, she is a beautiful, great woman.” The prime minister intervened and put a hand on the president's shoulder and said, “I second.”
But Mr. Trump's comments about Ukraine did not come to what the prime minister was looking for.
Prior to the trip, Sir Keir warned that Putin would 'come again', unless the US offers an extensive safety backstop. But Mr. Trump rejected the idea and said that the Russian despot could be familiar to keep his word.
Keir Starmer laid his hand on the shoulder of Donald Trump while the President compliments the prime minister's wife
“I have known him for a long time and I don't believe he's going to break his word,” he said. “I think the deal will keep.”
When asked about the need for American military involvement in a security stop, he suggested that the presence of American citizens who would be sufficiently put off on the rare minerals deal.
He added: 'Well, there is a backstop. First you have European countries because they are there, we are very far away, we have an ocean between us. But we want to make sure it works. So I don't know if you say backstop, you mean a backstop psychological, military or what.
'We are a backstop because we will be there, we will work in the country. That is economically great for them because … we will have many people there … so I just don't think you will have a problem. '
The president did not exclude the rates at the UK, but said he had a 'warm place' for the country and would have a 'good discussion' with Great Britain.
The White House welcomed Sir Keir's decision this week to raise the defense expenditure to 2.5 percent GDP and his 'leadership' in offering troops to Ukraine – but urged him to continue.
A Senior Trump administration official said: “President Trump continues to encourage our NATO fellow people to increase their expenses even further to 5 percent.”
