Keir Starmer may need a bit more help on his side to talk around Donald Trump as he attempts to cosy up with the newly elected President of America.
Donald Trump has spoken of tariffs he could impose on imports into America and concerns are high in the UK that Britain would be among those hit – a move which would affect the UK economy negatively.
Farage has spoken of an opportunity for the UK to talk to Donald Trump and foster a better relationship to avoid any tariffs. But will Trump be open to Starmer?
Here are four key Trump grandees and their comments showing the new President-Elect may not be so forgiving when it comes to dealing with Starmer and Labour.
1) JD Vance
JD Vance is Trump’s Vice-President Elect and has not shied from making his opinions clear on Britain and Labour.
He said at the National Conservatism Conference in the US ahead of the election: “What is the first truly Islamist country to get a nuclear weapon?
“And we were like, maybe it’s Iran, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts.
“And then we finally decided maybe it’s actually the UK since Labour took over.”
His reference to Labour will complicate Sir Keir Starmer’s relationship with the incoming Trump.
JD Vance has spoken negatively of the Labour party
TUCKER CARLSON NETWORK
2) Donald Trump Jnr
Speaking a week before Trump was elected. Donald Trump Jnr on the campaign trail was asked his views on Labour sending activists to campaign for Kamala Harris.
He responded: “It’s certainly not a great start – it’s clear to see what they are doing and its absolute lunacy what’s going on in the UK right now.
“When they are jailing people for mis-gendering someone – honestly it’s disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves.”
Donald Trump Jnr spoke of the Labour party’s canvassing for Kamala Harris
X
3) Former Chief Of Staff Mick Mulvaney
Not that Trump will need any reminding but according to his former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; “Trump remembers everything.”
He went onto say that the newly-elected US President will “have a problem” with David Lammy who has previously called Trump a ‘neo-Nazi’.
The UK foreign secretary has gone to great lengths to court the MAGA crowd but it certainly won’t be an easy ride according to Mulvaney.
Elon Musk took aim at Keir Starmer Getty
4) Elon Musk
Elon Musk – who is now in Trump’s inner circle – has not been shy of his criticism of Starmer.
Musk blasted the UK’s justice system in an interview claiming that there is a “shocking amount of censorship” in Britain.
The businessman and investor spoke on the Tucker Carlson Show about the early release of prisoners in the UK and people sent to prison over riot-related social media posts.
Speaking to Carlson, he said: “There’s also like a shocking amount of censorship. You may have seen in Britain there.
“I kid you not… how can this be real?
“They are releasing convicted paedophiles from prison in order to put people in prison for Facebook posts.”
Nigel Farage speaking on his GB News show this evening discussed Starmer’s chances, he said: “But the question for us is, is Donald Trump’s election good news for Britain.
“Now, I think it is because he’s instinctively pro-British. I think it is because when he was president, he was more than happy to do a trade deal with us. The problem was our Conservative government hadn’t got Brexit done, we weren’t in a position to be able to do so.
“But given that Trump is saying 10% tariffs on anything that comes in from anywhere else in the world, that I think presents a big dilemma to Keir Starmer’s government.
“There are other problems too. I suspect the handover of the Chagos islands casting long term doubt over the naval base that the Americans use on Diego Garcia, I suspect that could become a problem. And not to mention some very disobliging things that have been said by very senior Labour politicians, including, of course, Sadiq Khan, who’s now 10 years into a feud with Donald Trump.”