Before David Lammy was the UK’s chief diplomat, he was a passionate opponent of Donald Trump. As a backbench MP in 2019, ahead of Trump’s state visit to Britain, Lammy posted on social media that the then (and soon to be) US president was "deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic" and "no friend of Britain".
In other times, this might disqualify him to be Foreign Secretary. Indeed, new Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch sought to highlight Lammy’s comments at her first Prime Minister’s Question on Wednesday. Yet Lammy may in fact be right when he dismisses these comments as “old news”.
We know that Trump does not like criticism. Yet it is also abundantly clear that he rather likes people who change their minds about him. JD Vance, the president elect's running mate, once mused whether Trump may be “America’s Hitler”. It did not seem to matter, once Vance became one of his biggest cheerleaders.
Building a personal relationship with Trump, his family and wider court has been a priority for the UK government even before the election result was known. To that end, Sir Keir Starmer and Lammy dined with Trump at Trump Tower earlier this year. The meeting was said to have gone well. Of course, it remains to be seen whether personal relationships can save the UK from American imposed tariffs, let alone a withdrawal from Nato.
What we do know is that Trump is a transactional politician. He believes that everything – not just business – is a zero sum game, and that there are only ever winners and losers. If people, whether Republicans or foreign representatives, are prepared to recant and kiss his ring, he has demonstrated an ability to forget past transgressions.
The challenge for this Government is not simply to demonstrate to the president elect that the UK government is a friend of his. But to manage the chaos that is almost certain to erupt in a second Trump administration. Lammy’s previous comments are likely to be the least of Britain’s problems.
