AN EMBARRASSING Keir Starmer tweet has resurfaced after his meeting with Donald Trump.
The Prime Minister and the US president appeared keen to showcase their “tremendous relationship” during their crunch talks at the White House – as Trump praised Starmer as a “tough negotiator”.
The pair seemed keen to emphasise their warm feelings for each other, which some on social media described as overly “fawning” – with Green Party deputy leader Jack Polanski even saying it made him feel “physically sick”.
But Starmer hasn’t always considered an endorsement from Trump as desirable.
During the Tory leadership contest in 2019, Trump said Boris Johnson would be an "excellent" choice ahead of a visit.
In response (below), Starmer said: “An endorsement from Donald Trump tells you everything you need to know about what is wrong with Boris Johnson’s politics and why he isn’t fit to be Prime Minister.”
An endorsement from Donald Trump tells you everything you need to know about what is wrong with Boris Johnson’s politics and why he isn’t fit to be Prime Minister. https://t.co/qen3tKNaQp
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 1, 2019
“There is always a tweet,” highlighted Scottish minister Christina McKelvie in response to the post.
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, meanwhile, told The National that Starmer flip flopping and choosing to cosy up to Trump “won't go down well in Scotland” as the “Janey Godley view of the President still prevails”.
The late comedian is known for a 2016 stunt where she held a poster saying “Trump is a C***” outside the US president’s Scottish golf course.
"Donald Trump is not our friend, he is not a reliable or trustworthy ally. He is a climate wrecker, who tears up treaties when they don't suit him anymore,” Slater went on.
"Building better ties with Europe and with countries like Canada is what the Prime Minister should be doing. The whole White House spectacle has been a disgrace and an embarrassment."
It was very much a friendly visit from Starmer despite Trump’s recent comments, including calling for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Their meeting began with the Prime Minister presenting Trump with the King’s friendly invitation for an “unprecedented” second state visit to the UK, and Starmer praising the president for his “personal commitment to bring peace” in Ukraine.
Trump said the UK was a “special place” and the Prime Minister was a “special man” in the Oval Office on Thursday.
He told reporters: “We’ve had a tremendous relationship and, frankly, the Prime Minister and I have met twice before, and we get along very famously, as you would say, and I look forward to it very much.”
In response, Starmer thanked Trump “for your hospitality and for your leadership”.
