British PM Starmer covers defence, security in first call with Trump

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer touched upon a range of topics, including defence and regional security, during his congratulatory phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after a “historic” election victory.

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During the call on Wednesday (November 6) evening, both leaders agreed to work towards strengthening the “incredibly strong” U.S.-U.K. special relationship and committed to ensure the bilateral ties continue to thrive.

“The Prime Minister offered his hearty congratulations and said he looked forward to working closely with President-elect Trump across all areas of the special relationship. From defence and security to growth and prosperity, the relationship between the U.K. and U.S. was incredibly strong and would continue to thrive for many years to come, the leaders agreed,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Mr. Starmer is said to have also reflected on the situation in the Middle East and “underscored the importance of regional stability”. They went on to discuss their recent meeting at Trump Tower when Starmer was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

“The leaders fondly recalled their meeting in September, and President-elect Trump’s close connections and affinity to the United Kingdom and looked forward to working with one another,” Downing Street added.

The phone call came after a heated first exchange between Mr. Starmer and the newly elected U.K. Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch in the House of Commons.

The Conservative Party chief challenged the Labour leader over his party volunteers having flown in to support the campaign of Trump’s Democrat rival Kamala Harris.

“I am 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,” Ms. Badenoch taunted.

“It is absolutely crucial that we have a strong relationship – that strong, special relationship, forged in difficult circumstances — between the U.S. and the U.K.. We will continue to work, as we have done in our four months in government, on issues of security, our economy and global conflict,” Mr. Starmer responded.

Earlier, Mr. Starmer had been forced to stress that any party activists in the U.S. during the election campaign were there as volunteers on their own time.

Ms. Badenoch also raised the risk of increased tariffs on U.K. exports by the new Trump administration, which would threaten the country’s manufacturing sector and urged him to revive UK-US free trade agreement (FTA) talks, which the previous Biden regime had cancelled.

Meanwhile, Mr. Starmer is in Budapest on Thursday for a summit hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban where Trump’s victory and its implications on Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are expected to dominate the agenda.

The European Political Community (EPC), which holds these summits every six months, was set up in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a chance for the European Union (EU) to meet wider partners including non-members such as the UK and Turkiye to discuss key security challenges affecting Europe.