Sir Keir Starmer's one-time chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has disclosed that Donald Trump's bizarre diatribe about overweight Scottish foxes nearly derailed the first call between the two leaders. McSweeney, who left Downing Street earlier this year amid the Peter Mandelson scandal, shared the anecdote in his first public interview on Nick Robinson's Political Thinking podcast.
Trump's Windmill Rant
McSweeney said Trump is 'much funnier' than expected, recounting how the president launched into a monologue about wind turbines. 'The first call that Keir had with the president, he got into a conversation about windmills,' McSweeney explained. 'Trump started saying, “Britain is a beautiful country, but you have too many windmills” – fine, he was making his point. Then he started to say, “The windmills are killing your birds, the birds are falling by the windmills, foxes are eating those birds…”'
At that point, officials in the room struggled to maintain composure. 'Everyone wanted to be professional but were struggling to hold it together,' McSweeney said. Trump continued: 'The foxes ate so many birds, and became lazy, they became fat, and as they became so fat people no longer knew what kind of a creature they were. There were these fat foxes walking around Scotland eating dead birds.'
Starmer's Composure
Asked whether Starmer burst out laughing, McSweeney said: 'He just held it together, I don't know how. He just absolutely contained himself, no one else in the room did.' McSweeney added that the president was 'definitely' trying to be funny, not just airing a grievance. The anecdote highlights Trump's long-standing animosity toward wind turbines, which he calls 'windmills,' dating back to his fight against a windfarm near his Scottish golf course.
McSweeney's Regrets
In the interview, McSweeney also expressed regret over the handling of the winter fuel payment and Starmer's comments on Israel's actions in Gaza. Regarding the LBC interview in October 2023 where Starmer appeared to say Israel 'has the right' to withhold water from Gaza, McSweeney said: 'We'd have been faster to correct the record on what he said. I don't think he was being an apologist at any point.'
McSweeney noted that Starmer was 'always prepared' to stand up to Trump 'when the time was right,' citing instances such as Trump's comments on British soldiers, Grok, Greenland, and the Iran War. The interview offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the early dynamics between the UK and US leaders.
