SIR Keir Starmer says he will work with Donald Trump – after once declaring the ex-US leader unfit to lead the world.
The Labour leader makes a u-turn saying transatlantic ties are more important than the personalities at the top of government.
He told The Sun that he is willing to work with whoever is in the White House – if he seizes the keys to Downing Street later this year.
Donald Trump is the runaway favourite to be the Republican candidate in the race against President Joe Biden in the November contest.
When asked if he would work with either President, he said: “Yes. There’s a very special relationship, always has been between the UK and US.
“That sits above the individuals who hold the positions of President and Prime Minister of their respective countries.
“It’s the American people to choose who they want to have represent them as their President.
“If I’m privileged enough to come in and serve as Prime Minister, I will work with whoever the Americans choose to be their President.”
Shortly after becoming Labour leader, Sir Keir said in May 2020 that Trump wasn’t capable of leading the world’s response to coronavirus.
He said: “I don’t think in President Trump we’re seeing the man capable of pulling the world together with a global response.”
And in a speech in January 2021, he told the Fabian Society: “Our relationship with the US matters to me enormously. I’m anti-Trump but I’m pro-American
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy earlier this month saying Labour will work with a Trump administration.
He said: “There will be some differences, but there are many more areas on which we can continue to work together.”
It comes after fifty Labour MPs back in 2019 called on then Prime Minister Theresa May to cancel his state visit because of his “misogynism, racism and xenophobia”.
Labour MP Emily Thornberry said Trump was a “racist” and a “sexual predator” during a BBC interview ahead of the visit.
Trump, who will be 78, when the country votes, is facing 91 criminal counts across four indictments and could even go on trial during the election campaign.
He won a landslide victory in the Iowa caucus leading to candidate Ron DeSantis pulling out of the race. He then defeated Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary.
A Republican primary will be held in Nevada on February 8 and the Democrats will hold a primary in South Carolina next week.
The so-called ‘Super Tuesday’ will be held on March 5 when more than a dozen states vote for both Republican and Democrat candidates – often producing a clear favourite in a tight race.
Donald Trump is 6/5 to be the next US President with Joe Biden at 2/1, according to the latest odds from Betfair Exchange.
