Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he and Donald Trump 'get on really well' as they met at the G7 summit amid tensions between the two nations. The Prime Minister told reporters he had a 'very honest and frank conversation' with the US president and other G7 leaders during dinner on Monday.
The G7 leaders held talks on Ukraine and the Middle East on the second day of the summit, which Mr Trump attended with an Iran peace deal planned for signing on Friday. Relations between the US and UK have cooled since Mr Trump criticized Sir Keir earlier this year for refusing to allow US forces to use RAF bases in initial attacks against Iran.
This week, Sir Keir announced a social media ban for under-16s, despite warnings from Mr Trump's pro-tech administration. Recent comments from US Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the murder of student Henry Nowak prompted No 10 to criticize those seeking to 'interfere in our democracy'.
Sir Keir also faces a domestic row over defence spending as he meets G7 counterparts to discuss global threats. When asked if Mr Trump raised concerns about defence spending or the social media ban, and if he feared these issues could further sour relations, the Prime Minister responded with three 'no's.
'I sat next to Donald Trump for two hours last night at dinner, which was just the G7 leaders. There were no listening rooms, no staff, no advisers. It was literally an opportunity for all of us to have a very honest and frank conversation,' Sir Keir said. He stressed that he spoke to Mr Trump on Saturday and sat next to him at events on Monday night and Tuesday morning, adding, 'We get on really well.'
Sir Keir rejected suggestions that the US president was snubbing him by not holding a bilateral meeting at the summit. 'We've just spent two hours last night sat next to each other, chatting. I spoke to him on the phone on Saturday for quite some time, one to one. I've been sat next to him discussing things this morning, and we're about to go into another session where I'll be sitting next to him again. So we are talking pretty constantly throughout this, and it's been very productive, very good conversations,' he said.
Sir Keir held one-on-one talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday afternoon, after meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and having a drink with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday night. The US president had talks on the sidelines with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Emir of Qatar on Tuesday. The Guardian reported that Mr Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Mr Zelensky all arrived late to the Ukraine talks on Tuesday morning.
