David Lammy challenges Donald Trump’s rhetoric forward of inauguration

When David Lammy is requested in regards to the new authorities’s relations with the incoming US administration, he likes to speak in regards to the dinner he and the prime minister had with Donald Trump in New York final September.

“We had an excellent meal,” the international secretary stated on Thursday. “We had a very long time to debate the problems. He was a particularly gracious host, very affable, very heat certainly about our nice nation.”

And all through a sequence of media interviews, briefings and a speech on the Overseas Workplace, Lammy talked up UK-US relations, even daring to talk of a “particular relationship”, a phrase largely averted by diplomats on either side of the Atlantic.

The UK and the US, he stated, have been “required to work very intently collectively” on world challenges.

They embrace challenges such because the wars in Europe and the Center East and what he known as “the rising issues in Sudan”. He cited the “shut cooperation” between each international locations on navy and intelligence issues.

However what was placing was how far the international secretary was prepared to problem Trump solely days earlier than his inauguration.

The president-elect’s refusal to rule out navy motion towards Greenland was, Lammy stated, an instance of his “destabilising” rhetoric.

His language was extra measured than that of French and German politicians and he stated Trump was targeted on Arctic safety – however he insisted such an assault by one member of Nato on one other was “merely not going to occur”.

He stated Trump was proper to ask Europe to do extra to defend itself however questioned his name for Nato members to spend 5% of their nationwide earnings on defence, noting the US was itself spending solely 3.38 %.

Talking on BBC Radio 4’s Right this moment programme earlier within the day, Lammy had forged doubt on Trump’s marketing campaign promise of a fast ceasefire in Ukraine.

“I see no proof that Putin needs to return to the desk to barter,” he stated.

“I feel the indications are, from what I’ve seen over the previous few days, a slight pushback on this sense that someway a deal shall be achieved on 21 January, I feel that is now unlikely. And we’re listening to that truly the timetable’s moved down considerably in the direction of Easter.”

Lammy performed down the affect of Elon Musk, the rich ally of Trump who in current days has personally attacked British ministers on X. He stated the tech boss would have solely a “home portfolio” within the new administration and his function had not come up in talks between British and Trump officers.

The international secretary additionally emphasised the necessity to interact with China – on commerce, local weather, well being and synthetic intelligence – and urged the nation “to not throw in its lot” with Russia. This place is at odds with that held by Trump allies who see China already as a key member of an anti-Western axis together with Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Lammy calls his method to international coverage “progressive realism”. He stated this implies looking for progressive ends whereas accepting the world as it’s.

When making use of this framework to Trump, he stated he shall be guided extra by the president-elect’s actions than his rhetoric. We will be taught in coming days how far the 2 stay aside.

And as for that dinner with Trump final autumn, Lammy hardly ever mentions the actual fact the meal was nearly the reason for a diplomatic upset.

He and Sir Keir Starmer have been introduced with giant plates of Guyanese hen, considerably to the dismay of the vegetarian prime minister.

Within the nationwide curiosity, the international secretary was obliged to eat extra hen that night time than he might need anticipated.