Trump Comeback Traps UK’s Starmer in Uncomfortable Relationship

(Bloomberg) - Donald Trump has repeatedly told associates in Britain he thinks the country's new Prime Minister Keir Starmer is "very left-wing," underscoring how traditionally close relations between the US and UK are likely to be strained by the Republican president-elect's victory on Tuesday.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The remarks casting shade on Starmer's politics came in private conversations over recent months, people familiar with the matter said, when the UK leader — who led his Labour Party to power in July — was contending with far-right riots and a lingering online spat with billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk. Trump also echoed some of Musk's vitriolic criticism of Starmer, they said.

What the British media still likes to call the "special relationship" — a term coined by Winston Churchill during World War Two — has survived and even thrived in the past when the US and UK had leaders with contrasting political heritage. Former Labour premier Tony Blair, for example, was among the staunchest supporters of Republican George W. Bush's military response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

But when it comes to Trump and Starmer, as well as key members of their administrations, the signs point to a relationship likely to be measured by degree of animosity. For the British premier, who promised in the election campaign that a Labour-led UK would help progressives in the fight against populism, the repercussions could be severe both abroad and at home.

To be sure, the official line from Starmer's government and Labour is that the UK is determined to work with Trump. The prime minister was quick out of the blocks with his congratulations on Wednesday, and Starmer's spokesman referenced recent contact with Trump's team.

Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy — who criticized Trump in the past — began developing the relationship before the UK election, especially with Trump's running mate JD Vance. Starmer then called Trump after he was shot in July, and both had what UK officials described at the time as a constructive dinner at the president-elect's apartment weeks ago in New York, after which Trump said they're "friends," according to people familiar with the matter.

Yet their politics are diametrically opposed. Starmer leads a center-left party which just raised taxation levels to a record to invest in public services, favors policies to tackle climate change and repeatedly describes the UK's military support for Ukraine as "ironclad." Trump, meanwhile, considers his closest political allies in the UK as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and former Tory premier Boris Johnson — two of Starmer's most prominent opponents.

Their differences, though, go beyond the ideological. Last month, Trump's campaign team filed a legal complaint against Starmer's Labour Party over alleged election interference, after party activists traveled to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris. Though that is something of a political tradition, and the UK Conservatives regard US Republicans as their sister party in the same way that Labour identifies with the Democrats, it is still awkward.

"It's not a great place to be starting from," said Jojo Penn, who met the then president several times while serving as deputy chief of staff to ex-premier Theresa May. "But these are not insurmountable obstacles. It would have been a miracle to get through a Trump candidacy and presidency without some controversy like that. The key thing is not to be blown off course and focus on what the UK's interests are."

In the House of Commons, new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch took the first available opportunity to poke at the perceived disappointment on the benches opposite. She referenced past criticism of Trump during his previous term by Lammy and other senior Labour politicians.

"I'm very sure that President Trump will soon be calling to thank him for sending all of those North London Labour activists to campaign for his opponent," Badenoch said during Prime Minister's Questions.

To be sure, Trump has also told British officials he respects the large majority won by Starmer, and the pair agreed to work together during their dinner meeting, according to people familiar with the matter.

In British circles, there's hope the US trade surplus with the UK could spare it from the worst of Trump's protectionist instincts. Being outside of the European Union, too, is seen as helpful in terms of the White House perspective — though that will run up against Starmer's instincts to get closer to the bloc.

"I have to be nice, right?" Trump told reporters before meeting Starmer. "But I actually think he's very nice, I think. He ran a great race. He did very well. It's very early, but he's popular and I'll be seeing him."

Yet the risk is that those are mere caveats in a wider negative picture. Starmer faces a challenge to maintain a good relationship with a president who enjoys being unpredictable, while being able to challenge him over disagreements. The influence of Musk, who used his X social media platform to attack Starmer over his crackdown on far-right rioters over the summer, will worry the government.

Post-Brexit Britain may not be Trump's immediate target, but with France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Olaf Scholz weakened by their own domestic woes, Starmer risks becoming the whipping boy of Europe if he tries to stand up for the liberal world order. Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Hungary's Viktor Orban seen as most likely to become Trump's allies in Europe.

Starmer also faces a domestic problem. Trump's victory will elevate Reform UK leader Farage's voice, particularly in the media, while many Labour politicians want to see the premier stand up to the president-elect's incendiary rhetoric. The image of a British prime minister sticking it to a US president has been talked about in British politics since Hugh Grant's character in the 2003 movie Love Actually, but perhaps never more so than during Trump's first term.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Labour politician who like Lammy has criticized Trump in the past, chose not to congratulate him, instead saying the US result meant that "asserting our progressive values is more important than ever."

UK officials say Trump's unpredictability is their main concern, and they're particularly looking at his choices for secretary of state, national security adviser and head of the CIA for signs of the direction he takes with Russian President Vladimir Putin — including over Ukraine.

In Parliament, though, Starmer appeared determined to sound positive about his prospects with Trump. "It is absolutely crucial that we have a strong relationship, that strong special relationship forged in difficult circumstances between the US and the UK," he said.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek