Trump knocked off balance by Starmer's secret weapon

Keir Starmer came to the White House with a list of daunting objectives.

- RICHARD HALL

The British prime minister had to press Donald Trump to exempt the UK from import tariffs, draw him closer to Europe on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, and convince him that the Chagos Islands are real.

Success would require an abundance of charm, which is not something the prime minister, a former human rights lawyer, is particularly known for.

But Starmer brought with him a secret weapon to meet the challenge – a shiny object in the form of a personal letter from King Charles inviting Trump for a second state visit to the UK. In a masterful piece of royal diplomacy, the British prime minister presented the document to Trump just minutes after sitting down in the Oval Office, along with the King’s best wishes.

“This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented,” Starmer insisted, pressing on Trump’s shoulder as if he were handing over a new toy to a toddler. “This is truly historic,” he continued.

Trump appeared charmed by the honour and immediately accepted the invitation before anyone could point out that Charles is also the reigning monarch of Canada, a country that he is threatening to annex.

“He's a beautiful man, a wonderful man – I've gotten to know him very well, actually, first term and now second term,” he said of the King.

There were questions about which Starmer would show up to meet Trump yesterday. Some may have been hoping for him to channel Hugh Grant’s character in Love Actually, a British prime minister who stands up against a bullying American president. Others may have feared he might instead come as that other well-known British character, a dithering Mr Bean, and capitulate entirely.