DONALD Trump and Keir Starmer have met for the first time as leaders to hold talks in Washington DC.
The Prime Minister and US president meet against a backdrop of growing international tensions – with Starmer insisting he can bridge the gap between US and EU policies on Ukraine.
Trump sparked international outrage by branding Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator”.
Starmer will try to push a reluctant Trump to provide a US “backstop”, possibly including fighter jets providing air cover, to prevent Vladimir Putin launching a fresh assault on Ukraine after any peace deal.
Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office before lunch and a private meeting, Starmer revealed that the King had invited Trump for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK.
The US president has previously said he would not provide security guarantees “beyond very much”, insisting it was for Europeans to protect Ukraine.
Addressing the media inside the White House, Trump called Starmer a "special man", adding: "We’re going to be discussing many things today, we’re going to be discussing Russia/Ukraine, we’ll be discussing trade and lots of other items, and I think we can say we are going to be getting along on every one of them."
Starmer is prepared to commit British troops to a peacekeeping mission but believes that US promises are vital to “deter Putin from coming again”.
Ahead of his talks at the White House on Thursday, Starmer insisted that Trump can be trusted and understands that Russian president Putin started the war in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister will hope his promise to increase defence spending to a 2.5% share of the economy from April 2027 helps persuade Trump that European nations are serious about the security of their continent.
But a senior Trump administration official told the PA news agency while that was welcome, “president Trump does continue to urge our Nato allies to increase their spending even further toward 5%”.
“We appreciate Prime Minister Starmer’s leadership, also in his recent discussions committing British troops to help enforce peace once a deal is reached,” the official said.
Starmer wants to act as a bridge between the US and European continental allies, and said he had been having “really intense discussions with our European partners, with Nato, with Ukraine, and obviously with US teams as well”.
Meanwhile, Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan's arrival in America just hours after Starmer also casts a shadow over the meeting. The pair have escaped allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.
They are wanted in the UK for alleged rape and coercive control and four women who have accused Tate said the news he had fled to America has "retraumatised" them.
@scotnational Keir Starmer grins as he meets Donald Trump in Washington #ukpolitics #uspolitics #keirstarmer #labourparty ♬ original sound - The National
In a joint statement, the women said: "We are in disbelief and feel retraumatised by the news that the Romanian authorities have given in to pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel around Europe and to the US."
It comes after reports suggested that the Trump administration pressed the Romanian government to lift travel restrictions on the brothers earlier this month.
Zelenskyy and European leaders will meet for talks hosted by Starmer on Sunday following separate White House visits by both the Prime Minister and Ukrainian president.
The looming imposition of US tariffs on imports of British steel could also be a tricky topic for the talks.
Asked if he was confident the UK will be exempted from tariffs, Starmer said “I’m not going to get ahead of our discussions”, but he stressed that British trade with the US was “pretty balanced”.
The UK’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, has also said there is no need for a “fight” over trade.
Downing Street hopes the talks with Trump will focus on cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence partnerships.
