Lord Mandelson has said Donald Trump will be a “very consequential president” as the UK looks to avoid battles on tariffs with the White House.
The newly installed UK ambassador to the US said it was a “very significant moment for our lives, between our two countries and indeed for all the freedom-loving democracies in the world”.
Addressing a reception at his residence in Washington, the New Labour architect said: “The US and the United Kingdom, we basically share everything together.
“We share people, we share cultures, we share a lot of intelligence, we share technologies, and… we also share some of the fighting of our adversaries as well.
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“And of course one thing we don’t need to fight over is trade, because we have this fantastically fair and balanced trade relationship when we reciprocate so much – that’s just a little thing for you to remember in the coming weeks.”
Tariffs imposed by Trump on British steel are set to come into force in March, with the president also considering other import taxes.
Lord Mandelson told guests including officials from the Trump administration and business leaders: “You have a leader in this country in the president who in my view is going to be a very consequential president for this country indeed.”
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Prime minister Keir Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy also attended the reception at the ambassador’s residence.
In a short speech, Starmer said: “I’ve only just arrived but already I can feel there’s real buzz around Washington right now. You can sense that there’s a new leader.
“He’s a true one-off, a pioneer in business, in politics. Many people love him. Others love to hate him.
“But to us, he’s just… Peter.”
On Wednesday, the prime minister dismissed growing tensions between the White House and Europe over Ukraine, saying he trusted Donald Trump and wanted the “special relationship” to go “from strength to strength”.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the White House meeting, Starmer insisted that the UK was working “in lockstep” with the president on the matter of Ukraine.
Asked if he could trust president Trump in light of what has happened in recent weeks, the prime minister responded: “Yes”.
“I’ve got a good relationship with him”, the PM added.
In Washington, Starmer is expected to push Trump to provide a US “backstop” to prevent Vladimir Putin launching a fresh assault on Ukraine after any peace deal.
The prime minister is prepared to commit British troops to a peacekeeping mission but believes that US promises are vital to “deter Putin from coming again”.
However, the US President has said he would not provide security guarantees “beyond very much”, insisting it was for Europeans to protect Ukraine.
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
