WorldAnalysis

‘I just called ... to say ... I love you?’: Keir Starmer speaks to Donald Trump in advance of meeting expected soon

Britain’s prime minister balances wooing the US president a his government also covets closer trade ties with China

Your place or mine? Keir Starmer hopes to meet Donald Trump face to face in coming weeks. Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Your place or mine? Keir Starmer hopes to meet Donald Trump face to face in coming weeks. Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/WPA Pool/Getty Images
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Mark Paul in London
Mon Jan 27 2025 - 18:07

After Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer and US president Donald Trump on Sunday held their first call since the latter’s inauguration, the next item on their agenda would appear to be: your place or mine?

The two leaders are expected to meet in person at some stage over the next couple of weeks with the location so far unconfirmed. A quick trip by Starmer to the White House is seen as more likely, however, than a jaunt to London and Downing Street by Trump.

Whitehall officials on Monday would not rule out the possibility that they could meet as soon as this weekend, although a date during the first week or two of February appears more feasible.

For the prime minister, meeting Trump will be an important moment as his Labour government seeks to woo the US president, whose stance on trade tariffs could prove pivotal for the defining mission of Starmer’s administration: spurring the economic growth to lift Britain out of its post-Brexit morass.

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The official readout of the call from both sides suggests their conversation on Sunday evening was cordial. Hours earlier, aboard Air Force One, Trump had described Starmer as “a very good person”. He told a BBC reporter on the plane that he and the prime minister, with whom he dined in New York last September, “get along well”.

“He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me ... I may not agree with his philosophy, but I have a very good relationship with him,” said Trump. For Starmer, who has been buffeted for weeks by withering criticism from Trump’s ally Elon Musk, the positive vibes from the White House will have been a fillip.

Their call opened with Trump offering sympathies to Starmer over the recent loss of his brother, Nick, who died on St Stephen’s Day. They also discussed the Middle East, where the prime minister took the opportunity to stroke the president’s ego. “The prime minister paid tribute to President Trump’s role in securing the landmark ceasefire and hostages deal in Gaza,” said Downing Street.

They also talked about the royal family – a Trump obsession. But according to Whitehall sources on Monday, the two leaders did not find time to discuss a ream of big issues where their national interests intersect, such as Ukraine’s war with Russia; the timetable for Britain as the US’s Nato ally to boost defence spending; or the paused deal struck last year by Starmer and endorsed by Joe Biden for Britain to hand back the Chagos Islands, where there is a joint UK-US military base, to Mauritius.

[ Europe needs to ‘close ranks’ in response to more transactional White House, says Kallas ]

It seems a large chunk of their 45-minute discussion was taken up with discussion of the economy, with a hefty clue in the final sentence of the White House readout of the call. It referred to the need for Britain and the US to maintain a “fair” bilateral trade relationship. This is seen as code for Trump’s insistence that he could deploy tariffs against nations with which the US has a big trade deficit. On that score, Britain, which buys more from the US than it sells to it, is on firmer ground than others.

There is another looming issue, however, where British and US interests intersect and could collide: China. Starmer’s chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, earlier this month led a trade mission to the US’s great eastern geopolitical rival as part of her never-ending search for growth. China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is also due to visit London next month for talks with David Lammy, Britain’s foreign secretary.

Starmer will have to walk a diplomatic and geopolitical tightrope as his government tries to keep the US onside while simultaneously building ties with the Chinese. He and Trump will have plenty to discuss when they meet in person in the weeks ahead.