Trump and Starmer agree the last deal at the dance

More than a month after Donald Trump set the global economy on fire to rebalance America’s trade relationship with the entire world, the self-proclaimed master negotiator has finally struck his first deal.

- RICHARD HALL

Given that the entire premise of Trump’s tariff gambit was that countries were “taking advantage” of the United States, it might come as a surprise that his first agreement was with one of the few countries with which the UShas a trade surplus.

The president did not let that small detail spoil the celebration.

“We have a big economic security blanket, and that’s very important, and we feel very, very comfortable with that, because it’s been a great ally, truly one of our great allies,” Trump said at the White House, announcing the tentative deal with the United Kingdom.

“It’s very conclusive and we think everyone’s going to be happy,” Trump said. “Many countries want to make a deal, and many countries are very unhappy that we happened to choose this one.”

In truth, this deal was perhaps the lowest-hanging fruit for Trump’s team of financial honey badgers – eager, energetic, and destructive as they are. A bargain basement deal. The last deal at the dance.

Besides striking an agreement with the penguins of Heard Island, who are still suffering under a punishing tariff regime, a deal with the UK was always likely to be simplest.

That’s because the UK has been desperate for a US trade agreement since leaving the European Union in 2020, and Trump has been desperate for a deal with anyone since Liberation Day, and especially since his team raised the prospect of making “90 deals in 90 days” in the wake of his tariff rollout.

Here were two countries that had scorned their old economic partners, for one reason or another, and were in search of new ones.