Why Keir Starmer cannot trust Donald Trump as US hard-right foment 'revolutionary' change in UK
A lack of trust is putting the long-standing ‘Special Relationship’ between the UK and US at risk
As a new American Empire takes shape, the UK is once again in search of its role on the world stage. The political turmoil surrounding Peter Mandelson’s sacking as UK ambassador to Washington, just before Donald Trump’s second, unprecedented state visit, must not obscure the deeper and more salient question of whether the current US President can be trusted.
In his dealings with the British government and our European allies, Trump can appear as a master of ambiguity. He praises and compliments Keir Starmer, but is also apparently unwilling to control his Vice President, JD Vance, and members of his Cabinet, or criticise others like Elon Musk for abusing, polarising and interfering in our politics and undermining the Prime Minister and his government on a regular basis.
In a video address to a rally in London last week organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, Musk called for “a revolutionary government change”, adding: “You’re in a fundamental situation where whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.” In January, Musk claimed “Starmer should be in jail” and said “the left is the party of murder and celebrating murder”.
Much is said, but nothing happens
Is the Trump administration, the Republican party and the American hard-right behind a none-too-subtle verbal war against the Prime Minister, the Labour government and our politics in general, and, if so, for whose benefit? What next after immigration and free speech? Could it be that liberalism and the left will become the focus of an intensifying assault from the other side of the Atlantic?
The US appears to ignore advice offered by Britain and other allies, who are excluded from serious discussions. But Britain’s declining status in world affairs should not turn the ‘Special Relationship’ into a one-way street.
Starmer has shown considerable leadership on Ukraine but Trump refuses to engage, allowing Putin to continue to wage war, and a similar stance has given Benjamin Netanyahu a seemingly free hand in Gaza. Both matters are wrapped up in Trumpian ambiguity, where much is said, but nothing happens, and everyone else is to blame.
The significance of the Special Relationship is dwindling as the US meddles in our economy, elections and gives succour to the hard right. Any self-respecting country must be alive to these issues. As Mark 8-36 says, “for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the world and lose his own soul”.
The economic and military strength of the US is not in question. But many voters, concerned about matters of principle, pride and patriotism, are anxious about the UK’s future and do not wish to become the 51st state.
Trump cannot be allowed to control Britain’s role in world affairs or turn this country into a demeaned, vassal state. This is where his ambiguity leads to a lack of trust that begs the question, "what kind of Special Relationship actually exists?"
Move closer to EU
Over centuries, social, diplomatic, economic, cultural, religious and historic ties, built on a shared language, have kept the US and Britain close. Today issues of military planning, nuclear technology and intelligence-sharing play an important role. But, whether by design or accident, the needs of the UK are being marginalised.
British politicians should remember Barack Obama’s remark that the US has many special relationships. As America remains self-absorbed and selectively isolationist, there is a need to deepen and strengthen our relationship with the European Union.
Trump will have been soaking up the pomp, pageantry, glitz and glamour at which our monarchy excels during the state visit, a diplomatic card possibly played too early. The US will enjoy the optics beamed home to a country that remains infatuated with the late Queen Elizabeth and now King Charles. But the private discussions between Trump and Starmer may not be so productive.
History has provided many warnings and much advice about this country’s place in the world. In a speech at West Point in 1962, US Secretary of State Dean Acheson said: “Great Britain has lost an Empire and has not yet found a role… the attempt to play a separate power role – that is a role apart from Europe, a role based on a ‘Special Relationship’ with the United States, a role based on being head of a Commonwealth, which has no political structure, or unity or strength – this role is about played out”. The then Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was incensed and complained to President John Kennedy. But Britain still has an identity crisis.
In 1946, Winston Churchill proposed “a kind of United States of Europe” in a speech in Zurich. This still remains unfinished business. In his famous Iron Curtain speech in Fulton, Missouri, that same year, Churchill also coined the term “Special Relationship”.
‘The art of the deal’
If the US continues not listening to Britain and its allies, it will only encourage Vladimir Putin’s aggression as he seeks to establish a new Russian Empire. Without unequivocal US support for Ukraine and Nato, threats to Europe will grow.
Ambiguity is a useful tactic for Trump – a man obsessed by “the art of the deal”, who likes to wrong-foot opponents, and run his country like a company – but it is creating a nightmare for Ukrainians and Palestinians, destabilising fragile global relations, and posing questions to the UK about where its future loyalties should lie.
There is no mystical bond between the US and the UK. We should not fail to see that, like all great powers, the US will in the end follow – without necessarily much regard for others – what is perceived to be in its own interests. As Lord Palmerston put it, “nations have no eternal allies and no perpetual enemies, only eternal interests”.
Some say always take the US President seriously but not literally, but such toleration of his ambiguity is no substitute for trust.
Henry McLeish is a former First Minister of Scotland
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