Starmer's dodgy swing will be the least of his worries

The prime minister is nervous at the prospect of a round of golf with Donald Trump but he will have bigger problems on his mind when they meet at Turnberry

- David Maddox

Sir Keir Starmer has confided that he has never played golf before, which may prove to be a problem when he holds a bilateral with Donald Trump at the US president's Turnberry course in Scotland tomorrow. The location partially explains the nervous energy around the prime minister when he discusses this last-minute arranged meeting, as Trump spends a few days relaxing at his Scottish courses.

“Golf is not something you can pick up in a weekend,” a source close to the PM said, envisaging the two holding their bilateral around 18 holes on the championship course.

But a potential crash course in golf is the least of Sir Keir’s concerns as he prepares for yet another crucial bilateral with a US president with whom he has struck up a politically unlikely friendship.

Top of the agenda will be the steel industry, followed by Ukraine and Gaza - all issues where Sir Keir and Trump still seem far apart.

Men of steel

If sorting out the trade deal was the equivalent of a green on a golf course, Starmer would be on his third attempt with the putter, trying to sink a ball which initially rolled invitingly near to the flag.

Already, we have effectively had two signing ceremonies for a trade agreement to tackle Trump’s “freedom day” tariffs. The first occasion in May, when it was described as “the big and beautiful deal”, seemed to have resolved almost everything. Then nothing happened, until the two men appeared together in Canada last month with a signed deal, which the president almost immediately fumbled onto the floor.

But even after that, there was one crucial issue left over - steel. Trump put tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and then increased them to 50 per cent for the rest of the world, with a threat that the UK would rise from 25 to 50 per cent if it did not sort the issue out.