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Donald Trump has specialised in heaping scorn on America’s traditional allies since arriving in the White House, but on Thursday he adopted a strikingly new approach: lavishing praise on a “fantastic” Britain and his “special” guest, Sir Keir Starmer.
The UK prime minister was a “special man”, King Charles was “a beautiful man” and Starmer’s wife Vic was “a beautiful, great woman”.
Trump even described Starmer’s accent as “beautiful”.
The show of appreciation, conducted over several hours of negotiations in the White House, was reciprocated in some convivial press events, in which both sides seemed determined to show that it was possible to have a positive relationship with Trump.
Starmer, who brought an invitation to Scotland for Trump from King Charles, described this honour as “incredible” and “unprecedented”. The relationship, in case anyone had missed it, was repeatedly described by Starmer as “special”.
There was substance behind the honey-glazed words: Trump surprisingly endorsed Starmer’s deal to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, an agreement previously criticised by senior members of his administration.
And the US president dangled the prospect of a US-UK trade deal — an accord frequently discussed in London and Washington but never actually delivered — as a way for Britain to dodge Trump’s tariff offensive, including his threat of a 25 per cent tax on imports from the EU.
But on Starmer’s main goal in the White House talks — securing a US “backstop” for European peacekeepers in Ukraine after a possible peace deal with Russia — he emerged with little to show for his schmoozing.
Trump’s assertion that a new US-Ukraine minerals deal would serve as a “backstop” in itself, since Russia would not dare strike at American workers and economic interests, did not go as far as Starmer would have liked. And strictly on the military front, Trump declared: “The British don’t need much help.”
Starmer could only say that there had been a “very productive discussion” on the issue, when asked about it at the press conference that followed the meeting. “The deal has to come first, but yes, our teams are going to be talking about how we make sure that deal sticks, is lasting and enforced,” he said.
On Sunday, the UK prime minister will host the representatives of 18 countries in London to decide what to do next. Will Britain or its allies agree to deploy peacekeepers in Ukraine without the promise of American support?
Starmer appeared to remain hopeful, praising Trump for “changing the conversation” on Ukraine.
The prime minister will also be able to claim some comfort, if not encouragement, on the economic front.
Trump stopped short of saying the UK would definitely be spared the high levies on imported goods that he has been threatening and applying to America’s closest trading partners.
But the president joked that Starmer “tried” hard to convince him to let the UK off the hook. Trump said an exemption from tariffs was likely, as long as the negotiators in Washington and London could agree on a trade agreement that has been elusive for years.
Both Trump and Starmer were short on the details of such a deal but they said it could be centred on digital trade and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.
“Instead of over-regulating these new technologies, we’re seizing the opportunities that they offer,” Starmer said.
Trump said the trade talks would involve his top officials, including JD Vance, the vice-president, Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, and Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary.
“I think we’ll have two deals. A deal on ending the war, and I think we’re going to end up with a great trade deal,” Trump said.