Trump says he ‘really likes’ Starmer, and world leaders who flatter him are ‘just trying to be nice’
Donald Trump said he “really likes” Keir Starmer in his BBC interview. He said:
I really like the prime minister a lot, even though he’s a liberal.
He did a good trade deal with us, which a lot of countries haven’t been able to do.
Although many Labour MPs and ministers have strong reservations about Trump, and many of them denounced him harshly in public during his first presidency, Starmer has decided to swallow any reservations he has and to treat the president with utmost respect. Other world leaders have adopted a similar approach, and Gary O’Donoghue asked Trump how he felt about his counterparts being “over-obvious in their flattery”. Trump replied:
Well, I think they’re just trying to be nice.
He also acknowledged that other world leaders were not treating him now as they treated him when he became president for the first time in 2017. He said:
I think they think it’s maybe not all luck. When you do it twice, it’s a big difference.
I also think that over the years have gotten to know me.
This is not an easy crowd to break into. You understand? These are smart people heading up very, very successful, generally, countries. Germany and France and Spain – big countries. I’ve gotten [to know them] and I think they’ve come to respect me respect and my decision making.
Key events
Trump says UK’s handline of Brexit has been ‘on the sloppy side’, but he claims it’s ‘getting straight now’
Donald Trump was a big supporter of Brexit, not least because the surprise vote to leave the EU in 2016 was in some respects a precursor for his victory in the presidential election later that year. But he told the BBC that he thought Brexit had been mishandled.
Asked if he thought that Britain had “made the most of Brexit”, he replied:
No, I think it’s been on the sloppy side, but I think it’s getting straight now.
It is true that Keir Starmer is proposing some modest changes to the post-Brexit trade deal agreed with the EU. But, in so far as Brexit is “getting straight now”, it is because Starmer is trying to ameliorate some of the worst aspects of the deal agreed by Boris Johnson, who was much admired by Trump when he was PM.
Trump on Britain: ‘It’s a great place – I have property there’
Donald Trump did not just praise the UK for being willing to fight with the US. (See 9.01am.) Asked how he saw Britain’s role in the world, Trump replied:
Well, I think it’s a great place. I have property there. You know, I own Turnberry [his golf course in Scotland].
Trump says he ‘really likes’ Starmer, and world leaders who flatter him are ‘just trying to be nice’
Donald Trump said he “really likes” Keir Starmer in his BBC interview. He said:
I really like the prime minister a lot, even though he’s a liberal.
He did a good trade deal with us, which a lot of countries haven’t been able to do.
Although many Labour MPs and ministers have strong reservations about Trump, and many of them denounced him harshly in public during his first presidency, Starmer has decided to swallow any reservations he has and to treat the president with utmost respect. Other world leaders have adopted a similar approach, and Gary O’Donoghue asked Trump how he felt about his counterparts being “over-obvious in their flattery”. Trump replied:
Well, I think they’re just trying to be nice.
He also acknowledged that other world leaders were not treating him now as they treated him when he became president for the first time in 2017. He said:
I think they think it’s maybe not all luck. When you do it twice, it’s a big difference.
I also think that over the years have gotten to know me.
This is not an easy crowd to break into. You understand? These are smart people heading up very, very successful, generally, countries. Germany and France and Spain – big countries. I’ve gotten [to know them] and I think they’ve come to respect me respect and my decision making.
Trump says he is confident UK would fight with US in a war – but he’s not sure if other Nato allies would
Donald Trump said in his BBC interview that he regards the US’s relationship with Britain as special because he thinks Britain would fight with America if it came to a war. Whether or not other countries would, he does not seem so sure.
The comments are interesting because they help to explain why he has reservations about Nato – and why, even though he has repeatedly said in public he supports Nato’s article 5 commitment to collective defence (saying that if one member is attacked, all Nato countries should come to their defence), some Nato leaders are not 100% confident he means it.
Asked if he still thought Nato was “obsolete”, Trump said:
I think Nato is now becoming, the opposite of that. I do think it was [in the] past and it was very unfair because the United States paid for almost 100% of it.
But now they’re paying their own bills. And I think that’s much better.
And asked if he believed in the doctrine of collective defence, he replied:
I do yeah, I think collective defense is fine.
But later in the interview, when the topic came up again, he adopted a slightly different tone.
Asked if he thought there really was a special relationship between the UK and the US, he replied:
I do. I think one of the problems with Nato is, we have to fight for them, but will they actually fight for us if we had a war? And I’m not sure I can say it.
But I will say this; I believe that the UK would fight with us.
There’s something about it. It’s just been so many years, and I really think the relationship is just a really great one.
I think that they would be with us. I’m not sure that a lot of the other countries would be – which is unfair because we pay far more than anybody else.
Trump went on to to say the “special relationship” was why he had made a deal on trade with Britain.
I made a deal with them, and I haven’t made … I’ve made some other deals but, for the most part, in terms of your competitors and in terms of the European Union, I haven’t made a deal.
But the UK is very special, and it’s been there for a long time.
Yeah, they have been a really true ally.
Trump declines to back Nigel Farage’s call for parliament to be recalled so he can address MPs during state visit
Good morning. Donald Trump has given an interview to the BBC’s chief North America correspondent, Gary O’Donoghue, and, while the most important lines are about Russia, it contains some interesting snippets about the UK. Trump is making an unprecedented second state visit in September and yesterday a mini Westminster row broke out about the timing of the trip (starting just after the Commons starts its conference season recess), and the fact this means Trump isn’t being invited to give a speech to MPs and peers.
No 10 implied yesterday that this was just a scheduling coincidence – and nothing to do with the fact that some parliamentarians are bitterly opposed to hosting Trump, who is widely reviled as a threat to American democracy.
Yesterday Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said (to GB News, of course) that parliament should be recalled so that Trump could get the chance to speak in the Royal Gallery or Westminster Hall (the venues normally used for these events).
But, when O’Donoghue asked Trump about this, he discovered that the US president doesn’t agree with Farage, and isn’t bothered about the prospect of not getting the President Macron treatment.
Asked if he would like parliament to be recalled so he could make a speech there, Trump replied:
I think let them go and have a good time [ie, let MPs have their recess]. I don’t want that to …
Asked what he wanted to achieve from the state visit, Trump said:
I think just, I want to have a good time and respect King Charles, because he’s a great gentleman.
We have not heard Farage’s reaction yet. His X feed still has this video near the top, featuring the Reform UK leader calling for the recall of parliament.
Trump’s response suggests Farage might be less in touch with the views of the president, and the Maga movement, than he sometimes claims. And, given Trump’s unpopularity in the UK generally, it is probably not wise for Farage to appear even more sensitive to any slights to Trump’s dignity than the man himself.
I will post more from the interview soon.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.
9.30am: Rachel Reeves, chancellor, announces a package of reforms to financial services in Leeds.
9.30am: James Cleverly, the former Tory home secretary, gives a speech to the IPPR thinktank.
9.30am: The Department for Work and Pensions publishes universal credit claim figures, including for the first time details of foreign nationals getting UC.
10am: Sir Adrian Montague, chair of Thames Water, and Chris Weston, its chief executive, give evidence to the Commons environment committee.
10.15am: Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, and colleagues give evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about the OBR’s fiscal risks report.
Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
After 12.30pm: MPs start debates on two Tory opposition day motions. The first one calls for the two-child benefit cap to stay, and the second one calls on the government to commit to uprating tax thresholds in line with inflation and to rule out new taxes on savings, homes and pensions.
Also today, the Department for Education is publishing new guidance on sex education.
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