Ed Davey has called on the prime minister to show strength by “challenging Donald Trump’s lies” when he meets with the US president.
The Liberal Democrat leader has been a consistent critic of Trump since his election on 5 November, which he referred to at the time as a “dark, dark day for people around the globe.”
Keir Starmer will meet Trump at the White House on Thursday for crucial talks over the future of Ukraine, European defence and the tariffs that the president is threatening to impose.
It comes after his announcement of a dramatic increase in the size of the UK’s defence expenditure, paid for by cutting the international aid budget. In a move widely interpreted as Starmer seeking to strengthen his hand ahead of his Washington visit, the PM pledged Tuesday to raise defence spending from its current 2.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent of the UK’s economic output by 2027.
The PM will be the sixth leader to visit the White House since Trump’s inauguration on 20 January. French president Emmanuel Macron was the last world leader to take to Washington DC for discussions with the president, having attended the White House for talks on Monday.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit on Friday.
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The question of what will happen with Ukraine was central to the talks between Macron and Trump, and Starmer is set to continue these conversations. His visit to the White House forms part of European efforts to ensure Kyiv gets a voice in ongoing negotiations, which the Trump administration started between the United States and Russia without Ukraine’s involvement, over ending the war.
In a phone call earlier this week, Starmer and Macron “agreed that president Trump’s leadership in working towards a durable peace in Ukraine was welcome”, a readout from No 10 Downing Street revealed.
It added: “They both reiterated that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations, and the UK and Europe are ready to play our part.”
In recent weeks, the US president has baselessly labelled Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and claimed he was down to a four per cent approval rating among the Ukrainian public. His former comment followed a statement from Zelenskyy, in which he claimed Trump is living in a “disinformation space” created by the Kremlin.
Trump has also accused European leaders of failing to bring peace in the conflict and has even suggested Ukraine was to blame for the outbreak of war in 2022.
Likely referring to some of these comments, Ed Davey has urged the prime minister to challenge the US president’s “lies over Ukraine” when the two meet in Washington.
Speaking ahead of Starmer’s meeting with Trump at the White House, the Lib Dem leader said: “It’s clear that the way to deal with Trump is from a position of strength, not weakness.
“So the prime minister should show Britain’s strength by challenging Donald Trump’s lies over Ukraine today.
“Millions of people have been shocked to see the US president parroting Putin’s propaganda and prioritising America’s enemies over its friends. Keir Starmer must make clear today that if Donald Trump continues down this path, it will have consequences.”
At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Conservative MP Simon Hoare, a former minister, said that Starmer should address Trump’s “childish nonsense”.
Hoare said that when the PM meets the US president, whom he referred to as the “former leader of the free world”, he does so with “the hopes and prayers of this House and the country.”
The Tory MP for North Dorset added: “Whilst Ukraine will clearly dominate, will the prime minister undertake to raise with president Trump that Canada is a valued, respected and much-loved member of both NATO and our Commonwealth?
“This childish nonsense of a 51st State should be called out by the prime minister for what it is.”
Starmer responded: “The UK and Canada are close allies and have been for a very long time, with a partnership based on a shared history and a shared set of values and a determination to be an active force for good in the world.
“We work closely with them on issues of the Commonwealth on NATO, and of course Five Eyes intelligence-sharing. And we will work to strengthen that relationship.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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