Trump's shift marks another diplomatic coup for Starmer

The impromptu press call on the steps of Turnberry with Keir Starmer and Donald Trump provided a historic moment for UK, US and Middle East politics.

- DAVID MADDOX

Amid the rambling of the US president, almost drowned out by the bagpipe music commissioned to welcome the prime minister and his wife, Victoria, there was a significant shift in policy.

Trump essentially greenlit Starmer recognising a Palestinian state and almost simultaneously rewrote US Republican Party policy on Israel and supporting Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Trump publicly dismissed the Israeli prime minister’s claim that “nobody is starving in Gaza”. He said that “you can’t fake pictures” of starving children and, alongside Starmer, made ending the hunger his number one priority. The president then refused to praise the Israeli PM’s tactics, saying that “nobody is doing very well there” and calling the whole Gaza crisis “a mess”.

This is a significant departure from the absolute support he has given the Israeli government previously. Netanyahu has been a regular guest of his in Florida and a close political ally. But even more important was Trump telling Starmer that he did not mind him “taking a position” on a Palestinian state.