Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he has not spoken to Donald Trump since before he imposed his sweeping tariffs, despite Downing Street insisting that they are making good progress towards a trade deal with the US.
While the prime minister denied that the US president is refusing his calls, there are growing questions over why the pair hasn’t spoken since the trade taxes were slapped on Britain.
It comes after his official spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed that the two hadn’t spoken on the phone since before tariffs were announced, saying the US president “has a busy diary”.
“The prime minister has had frequent contact, as you know, with the president in recent weeks including on the economy and on important international issues”, the spokesperson added.
But ministers now appear to be striking a more downcast tone on the possibility of a trade deal, with Labour’s Stephen Kinnock saying the UK must be “prepared for the eventuality that we don't get it immediately”.
Pressed by ITV on Thursday on whether Mr Trump was refusing his calls, Sir Keir said: “No, not at all. You have to understand with the UK and US, our teams talk all of the time … that is constantly going on.
“That is what you would expect of two very close allies.”
It comes after an adviser to the US president said it would take an “extraordinary deal” for the UK to improve on the 10 per cent tariff Donald Trump has placed on the country.
Kevin Hassett, a senior economic adviser to Mr Trump, told CNBC: “I think everybody expects that the 10 per cent baseline tariff is going to be the baseline.
“It is going to take some kind of extraordinary deal for the president to go below there.”
He said the White House was in negotiations with around 20 countries and that two deals were almost closed.
Sir Keir’s government still hopes an economic deal with America can be reached to soften the blow of tariffs, with officials previously saying the talks were at an “advanced stage”.
But Mr Kinnock admitted that a deal might take time.
Asked if the government is losing hope of getting a trade deal, the health minister told Sky News: "Things change all the time, so I think it's best for us to stay focused on the fact that we have that objective of getting a trade deal with the United States.
“And [business secretary] Johnny Reynolds and the prime minister and other colleagues are very focused on getting that deal.
“But of course, we also have to be prepared for the eventuality that we don't get it immediately, or that it takes some time to come.”
Downing Street has been contacted for comment.
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