Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK doesn’t need to trade off its special relationship with the US against its European alliances, despite concern that US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to ramp up tariffs will drive a wedge between the allies.
“The idea that we must choose between our allies, that somehow we’re with either America or Europe, is plain wrong — I reject it utterly,” Starmer said on Monday in a speech on foreign affairs at the Lord Mayor’s annual banquet in the City of London. “The national interest demands that we work with both.”
Trump is preparing to take power in January after winning the US election last month on a campaign during which he promised to slap tariffs of as much as 20% on all imports to the US, and of 60% on those from China.
The UK has said it would need to balance any deal on tariffs offered by Trump with its desire to strengthen commercial ties with the European Union, risking complications in the country’s relationship with its two closest allies.
Trump on Monday named investment banker Warren Stephens to be ambassador to the UK, tapping a prominent Republican donor and businessman for the prime diplomatic post in London.
Stephens funded conservative groups who opposed Trump’s nomination in 2016 and his Little Rock, Arkansas-based company, Stephens Inc., has a presence in Europe, including an office in London.
See also: Trump picks investment banker Warren Stephens as UK ambassador
Starmer sought to stamp out the notion he may have a testy relationship with Trump when he enters office next year, despite frictions between the two camps during the US election and their differing approaches to issues such as support for Ukraine and the fight against climate change.
“This is not about sentimentality — it is about hard-headed realism,” Starmer said of the UK-US relationship. “Time and again, the best hope for the world and the surest way to serve our mutual national interest has come from our two nations working together.”
The British premier also said the UK “must be prepared to talk to a wider range of countries” including China, to strengthen Britain’s global leadership — a stance that will likely put him at odds with Trump’s administration.
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On Ukraine, he said Britain must continue to back the eastern European nation in its war against Russian invaders, and “do what it takes to support their self-defense for as long as it takes.”
Trump has promised to end the conflict on day one of his administration, and Starmer said Britain must help “put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations” with Russia to end the conflict “so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence and right to choose their own future”.
