He offered me a second portion of chicken’: David Lammy insists Donald Trump bears no grudge over minister’s attack on ‘neo-Nazi sympathiser’ US president_Nhy
David Lammy tried to brush off the impact of his excoriating past criticism of Donald Trump last night, insisting he had a good relationship with the returning US president despite branding him a ‘woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath’.
The Labour Foreign Secretary is under fire over tweets he made when he was an opposition MP in which he said the hard right Republican was a ‘tyrant in a toupee’ and lacked the brains to pass GCSE exams.
Mr Lammy, who will now have a lead role in trying to maintain the UK’s so-called ‘special relationship’ with the United States, claiming to the BBC that his relationship with Team Trump had survived the remarks.
Mr Lammy and PM Sir Keir Starmer met Trump in New York after the UK general election, and Mr Lammy said his past attacks had not even been raised.
Branding them ‘old news’ he told the broadcaster’s Newscast podcast that he believes he can find ‘common ground’ with Trump, pointing out his Tory predecessor Lord Cameron ‘had some pretty ripe things to say’ about the president-elect.
‘He did offer me a second portion of chicken. He was very generous, very gracious, very keen to make sure that we felt relaxed and comfortable in his surroundings,’ the Foreign Secretary said.
‘I think that what you say as a backbencher and what you do wearing the the real duty of public office are two different things. And I am Foreign Secretary. There are things I know now that I didn’t know back then, and that’s the truth of it.’
And he suggested he had come away from the meeting with ‘a hunch’ Trump would beat Kamala Harris to return to the White House.
However the former head of MI6 today warned there was ‘concern’ about the remarks and their impact on UK-US relations.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has refused to back down on previously calling Donald Trump a ‘neo-Nazi sympathiser’
Donald Trump is pictured at an election night watch party on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida
Sir Richard Dearlove told the BBC: ‘Well of course, there’s a lot of baggage there, and that’s a concern, but when foreign secretaries go to Washington, they don’t necessarily see the president,’ Sir Richard said.
‘Maybe, if they have a good personal relationship, they do see each other, but the relationship can easily be dealt with by other people.
‘Maybe Trump, now, because he’s got such a strong political mandate, will put issues like that to one side.’
The Foreign Secretary has come under intense scrutiny for comments he made in 2018 when he described Trump as a
Among the other barbs directed at Trump by Mr Lammy on social media include the quip: ‘If Trump did GCSEs he wouldn’t make it to sixth form.’
But Downing Street has pushed back and took the unusual step to say Mr Lammy would be remaining in his post until the end of the Parliament.
The BBC’s political editor Chris Mason told Mr Lammy his back catalogue of quotes mattered as Trump could in the future decide to ‘weaponise these’ and that’s to ‘our [the UK’s] detriment’.
But he brushed it off as he made reference to a dinner he and the Prime Minister had with Trump in New York in September.
Looking uncomfortable as he shifted in his chair and tapped his hands on his thighs, Mr Lammy said: ‘He didn’t seem to think it mattered a few weeks ago.’
He added: ‘And in the end he [Trump] is finding common ground just as I’m finding common ground.’
Mr Lammy added that Trump was ‘someone that we can build a relationship with in our national interest’ and praised his election campaign as ‘very well run’.
‘I felt in my bones that there could be a Trump presidency,’ he added.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary met Trump for dinner in New York in September.
When asked if his past comments had been brought up when he met Trump for dinner, Mr Lammy said ‘not even vaguely’.
He added: ‘I know this is a talking point today, but in a world where there’s war in Europe, where there’s a tremendous loss of life in the Middle East, where the US and the UK genuinely have a special relationship, where we got someone who’s about to become again, the US president, who has experience of doing the job last time round, we will forge common interests,’ he said.
‘We will agree and align on much and where we disagree, we’ll have those conversations as well, most often in private.’
Sir Keir is facing a major headache with Mr Trump’s stunning US election win, after tensions flared over Labour supporters helping to campaign for the Democrat contender.
Mr Trump’s team filed an official complaint with federal election authorities accusing Labour of making ‘illegal foreign national contributions’.
Around 100 activists travelled to swing states to canvass for the Harris ticket – although Labour insisted they went at their own expense.
Sir Keir last night denied he was too left-wing to get on with the incoming president.
He was asked by reporters at the European Political Community summit in Hungary yesterday about claims that Mr Trump had privately described him as ‘very left-wing’, suggesting relations between the administrations would be strained.
Sir Keir replied: ‘I had a very good meeting with President Elect Trump a few weeks ago when we had dinner in New York. It was very positive and constructive, as was the phone call we had last night.
‘As I’ve said many, many times, the special relationship was forged in very difficult circumstances historically. In our joint view, it’s more important today than it’s ever been.’
In another attempt to build bridges, his deputy Angela Rayner spoke to incoming Vice President JD Vance – after it emerged she once described Mr Trump as an ‘absolute buffoon’ who has ‘no place in the White House‘.
Newly unearthed footage shows that during the pandemic, she told ITV: ‘He’s an absolute buffoon. He has no place in the White House. He’s an embarrassment and he should be ashamed of himself, especially when thousands of Americans have died.’
Last night Ms Rayner wrote on Twitter/X: ‘Good to speak to US Vice President-elect JD Vance as UK Deputy Prime Minister. We spoke about our plans for the future and how, working together, we build on the special relationship between our great countries.’
US analyst and former junior aide to Margaret Thatcher Nile Gardiner predicted there would be Congressional hearings on the use of Labour activists, not least because Republicans have won back control of the Senate with the House still to play for.
‘I think Keir Starmer is in the dog house right now and I’m not sure he would be welcome at Mar-a-Lago right now,’ Mr Gardiner said.
‘Sir Keir is viewed as part and parcel of the Harris operation’.
Firing Mr Lammy for his ‘vicious’ attacks on Mr Trump would be a start, Mr Gardiner said.
He said: ‘The smartest thing would be to sack David Lammy and apologise for the intervention by Labour staffers.
‘But I’m in no doubt that it will be practically impossible for Sir Keir to work with the Trump Presidency’.
Earlier this week, during PMQs, Tory leader Kemi Badeonch asked Sir Keir if he had apologised for Mr Lammy’s past remarks.
In response, the PM said his meeting with the Foreign Secretary and president-elect Trump just a few weeks ago was a ‘very constructive exercise’.
Ms Badenooch insisted that Sir Keir must invite Mr Trump to visit the UK and address both Houses of Parliament.
When Mr Trump was last president Labour MPs including Mr Lammy signed an early day motion arguing he should not be allowed the honour of addressing both Houses of Parliament during a state visit.
Meanwhile, the PM has also repeatedly clashed with billionaire Elon Musk, who looks certain to end up playing a key role in the Trump administration.
Government sources have been playing up the private dinner Sir Keir and Mr Lammy had with Mr Trump in New York in September, insisting they had struck up a good relationship.
There was also anger that senior figures from the party went to the Democratic National Convention in August and met Harris aides. The two parties have long-term ties.
Ms Badenoch said in the Commons: ‘I would like to start by congratulating President-elect Trump on his impressive victory this morning.
‘The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met him in September. Did the Foreign Secretary take that opportunity to apologise for making derogatory and scatological references, including, and I quote, ‘Trump is not only a woman-hating Neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath, he is also a profound threat to the international order’, and if he did not apologise, will the Prime Minister do so now on his behalf?’
