Donald Trump trolls Keir Starmer saying he may SNUB the UK on first overseas trip – but relief for PM as new president holds off on trade tariffs_Nhy
Donald Trump appeared to troll Keir Starmer last night by hinting he will snub Britain again when he makes his first trip abroad as president.
US leaders normally make London their first port of call after being inaugurated, to show the depth of the ‘special relationship’.
However Trump and his senior team, including Elon Musk, have clashed with Sir Keir and Labour in recent months.
The president broke with precedent in his first term, visiting Saudi Arabia in his first overseas trip rather than dropping in on Tory PM Theresa May – though they met later.
And in a chaotic press conference in the Oval Office last night he suggested that the Saudis might be able to buy his support this time around as well.
He told reporters: ‘The first foreign trip typically has been with UK but we did it, I did it, with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450billion worth of our product.
‘I said ”I’ll do it but you have to buy American product” and they agreed to do that they bought $450 billion, it was the least reported story I’ve ever been involved (in).
‘I don’t know if Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another $450Bbn or $500bn -we’ll up it for all the inflation – I think I’d probably go there.’
Donald Trump last night suggested he could head to Riyadh for his first overseas trip, if the Saudis pay enough
US leaders normally make London their first port of call after being inaugurated, to show the depth of the ‘special relationship’. However Trump and his senior team, including Elon Musk , have clashed with Sir Keir and Labour in recent months.
The president broke with precedent in his first term, visiting Saudi Arabia in his first overseas trip rather than dropping in on Tory PM Theresa May.
Sir Keir Starmer is set to travel to Donald Trump’s White House within weeks after the US president took office promising a new ‘golden age of America’.
Mr Trump is weighing up whether to approve the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UK’s new ambassador in Washington, the fate of the Chagos Islands deal and the extent to which tariffs will hit Britain.
In his inauguration address, he promised to ‘tariff and tax foreign countries’ – although gave no details of how he would implement his policy.
He did not immediately impose tariffs on Monday as previously promised but later said he was thinking about imposing 25 per cent duties on imports from Canada and Mexico on February 1 over illegal immigrants and fentanyl crossing into the US.
Investors and foreign capitals had been bracing for a day-one tariff action that could upend longstanding trade agreements, but Trump’s trade memo essentially called for more research that could back future tariff actions.
Asked by reporters at the White House whether he would impose a universal tariff on all imports into the United States, Trump said: ‘We may. But we’re not ready for that yet.’
