Trump heralds new American ‘golden age’ as Starmer eyes early White House visit

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.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy congratulated Mr Trump on his return to the White House, saying “there are no greater allies than the UK and US”.

“Our close economic, security, intelligence and cultural ties deliver growth and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.

“I look forward to further strengthening the special relationship over the years to come.”

Mr Lammy is one of a series of high-profile Labour figures who have expressed trenchant opinions about Mr Trump in the past, calling him a “racist and KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser”.

Relations between the Trump camp and Sir Keir’s party descended into a legal row after Labour volunteers campaigned for Kamala Harris during her election defeat.

But Mr Lammy has sought to build bridges with the president’s allies and the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister met Mr Trump in New York in September.

The US president is known to admire the royal family, and the King sent Mr Trump a personal message of congratulations on his inauguration.

One potential issue for the special relationship is Mr Trump’s desire to use economic tariffs to protect American businesses.

Imposing tariffs on the UK would make British exports to the US more expensive for consumers.

Outlining his plans, Mr Trump said: “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.

“For this purpose, we are establishing the external revenue service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues, it will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury coming from foreign sources.”

Prime ministers have historically not attended the inauguration of a new president, but have sought to be early visitors to the White House.

Mr Lammy said: “I think that when you look at past prime ministers, it’s taken between a week or up to a month to come to Washington. The importance is the strength of the relationship and the serious discussions that we have.

“In the end, we have war in Europe, we have a ceasefire in the Middle East, but it’s incredibly fragile, and there are important malign actors like Iran that we’ve got to discuss with the United States and, of course, our growing trade relations with the United States.

“So, lots to discuss, and I’m very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks.”

The inauguration speech took place inside the Capitol due to Washington’s freezing weather, but Mr Trump raised the temperature with a typically bombastic speech which included:

– A promise that “the golden age of America begins right now”.

– On the Panama Canal, an assertion that “we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back”.

– A pledge to “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”.

– The declaration of a “national emergency” on the US border with Mexico.

– A commitment to “drill, baby, drill” to extract gas and oil reserves.

The UK Government has sought to highlight the strength of the transatlantic relationship despite the political differences with Mr Trump.

Following speculation that Labour grandee Lord Mandelson’s diplomatic appointment could be blocked by the US, Mr Lammy said he is the “right man for this moment” with experience as a former business secretary and European Union trade chief.

“He’s looking forward to presenting his credentials to Donald Trump,” Mr Lammy said.

And despite opposition within the Trump camp to the Chagos Islands deal, Mr Lammy said he was confident that the intelligence and military agencies in the US would persuade the new president it was a good agreement.

The UK plans to cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius, leasing back the strategically important Diego Garcia base used by the US for 99 years at a reported annual cost of around £90 million.

Sir Keir and Mr Lammy have argued that International Court of Justice rulings in favour of Mauritius had jeopardised the legal status of the base.

But allies of Mr Trump, including his pick as secretary of state Marco Rubio, have voiced concerns this could allow Chinese influence to increase on the islands around the base.

Mr Lammy said: “It’s right and proper that Donald Trump looks at that deal and is confident about that deal.

“But I would say that this has been through an inter-agency process in the United States and I suspect he will come to the same conclusions as the last administration.”

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, former prime minister Boris Johnson and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage are among the UK political figures in Washington ahead of Monday’s ceremonies.

In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, Dame Priti said she was there to represent the Conservative Party, with whom the Republicans have a “decades-long relationship”.

Downing Street on Monday dismissed suggestions that past comments made by Cabinet ministers were linked to the lack of UK ministerial attendance at the inauguration.

Number 10 also denied there were concerns that the US could be forming a closer relationship with Italy after the country’s premier Giorgia Meloni was invited to the event in Washington.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump’s “support for the UK is deeply valued”.

“I look forward to seeing our nations’ bonds strengthened as our two countries work together for a better future.”