President Trump hailed the United Kingdom as a country bursting with potential that could be realised if only it had good leadership, as he sat beside its new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, in New York on Tuesday.
Recently installed Prime Minister and long-time Trump critic Andy Burnham met President Donald Trump in person for the first time on Tuesday, as the two men held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. President Trump defaulted to his usual posture towards British leaders with whom he has little, politically, in common, offering kind compliments, yet his other remarks left a trail of clues pointing to policy areas where he thinks the new British leader is weak.
President Trump also maintained this façade of impeccable politeness for Britain’s last Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer. Yet in his remarks this afternoon, the President hinted at his true feelings towards the deposed leader, saying his relations with Britain are “all up now than they were with your last Prime Minister, let me put it that way.”
Extending the courtesy to newly-installed British leader Burnham, Trump said: “I think he’s going to be a great Prime Minister, he’s got a lot of great assets on his side… I think he’s a natural businessperson. We had a lot of discussions, even before this meeting, we’ve spoken to each other numerous times on the phone. Yeah, he gets it, he understands what he has to do, I do think so.”
It has long been evident that President Trump has a love for Britain itself that transcends the ephemera of its ever-shifting political leadership. Stating that Britain could be great again with the right political leadership — and pretty clearly implying that hasn’t come along yet — the President said:
…there’s great patriotism in [Britain], they want to see great things happen. Tremendous potential. I see some countries, I’m with the leaders, I don’t say it, but I don’t see a lot of potential. They’ve got a tough road to go down. This is a country with great patriotism, they love their country, the people love their country, as much as any country I can think of. And I think it’s just waiting for success, waiting for good leadership.
On the areas of policy the President said he highlighted to Burnham, Trump started out with his perennial favourites — that Britain is killing itself with open borders and hardline net-zero policies sending energy prices soaring — but also spoke out in response to a press question on the Chagos Islands, the deeply strategic joint UK-U.S. base in the Indian Ocean that the British deep state colluded with the Biden administration to give away, in response to a United Nations dictate.
Since Biden left office, the left-wing British government has clung to the plan, while Brexit pioneer Nigel Farage has tirelessly campaigned against the deal to pay Mauritius, which critics say is getting dangerously close to China, to take possession of the islands. President Trump has previously said he opposes the deal and added today, as he sat alongside Burnham:
I don’t support it, I think it’s terrible. It was a terrible deal, they all of a sudden say they have ownership, somebody has ownership and they never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous. We were talking about that, it’s strategically very important. Very important. We had to send out B-2 bombers when we bombed the Iran nuclear, we had to send them back home to Missouri, as opposed to flying for a shorter period of time. It’s amazing how strategic it is, and I think the Prime Minister is going to be looking at it… very, very strategic location. And it’s unique… it’s a very important piece of real estate.
Burnham nodded in assent as President Trump told him to reconsider the idea. Before the meeting, Mr Farage had pre-empted the issue coming up and reflected that:
It’s hard to believe Andy Burnham still wants to pay to give away the Chagos Islands. It’s the worst and most unnecessary deal in history. Expensive, a cruel act against the Chagossian people, and bad for our US allies. Let’s hope Trump kills it.
Responding to the comments at the UNGA, and that President Trump had indeed made reasonably clear to Burnham that he wasn’t in favour of the giveaway, Mr Farage reflected: “The Chagos deal is dead. Thank God”.
Prime Minister Burnham also spoke at the press conference following today’s bilateral, and mentioned the topics he’d raised with the U.S. President, naming the Falkland Islands and support for Ukraine. Of the President, Burnham reflected “you and I have established a good connection” and reassured that Britain was ready to “play our part in the Middle East”.