The UK can’t approach Trump like France and Germany have

Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskiy on January 16, 2025. (Source: Bloomberg/Getty Images Europe)

By Rosa Prince

Who would have thought Germany’s Atlanticist Friedrich Merz would be the first European leader to go full Love Actually on Donald Trump? Whereas others are quailing before the White House bully pulpit, the chancellor-in-waiting used his first words following his election victory on Sunday to condemn the “ultimately outrageous” invective coming out of Washington about Europe, NATO and Ukraine.

It’s an approach British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is not likely to mirror as he heads to Washington for his first face-to-face meeting with the US president on Thursday, armed with a fresh announcement of a massive boost in UK defense spending. But Starmer does need to make clear to Trump that the UK should be taken seriously.

“I never thought I would have to say something like this … but after Donald Trump's statements … it is clear that the Americans … are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe,” was Merz’s blunt characterization of the current state of Pax Americana.

Contrast that with the diplomatic dance performed by French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the US a day later. Macron sought to flatter “dear Donald,” playing up their bromance while cajoling him toward a more emollient position on Ukraine. Well, it didn’t work: Hours later, the US shamefully sided with Russia and China in voting for UN resolutions to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine that downplayed Russia’s role as the aggressor. Rather than use their votes on the Security Council to oppose the motion, both France and the UK abstained.

Starmer has to do better than Macron in his own meeting with Trump — and that means figuring out how to stand up to a president who operates on the world stage like a mob boss.

Thus far, the British PM has been cautious, leery of contradicting or criticizing Trump over threatened tariffs that would kick the ladder away from his attempts to rebuild the UK economy, or over the president’s move to cut both Ukraine and Europe out of a peace deal with Russia. Even when he rejected Trump’s allegation that Volodymyr Zelenskiy is a dictator, he was careful not to frame his words as directed at the US.

But now the preamble is over. In the hours to come, Starmer must establish a working relationship with this most capricious president if his own time in office is to feature anything other than capitulation and failure. This means that in the privacy of the Oval Office, the prime minister should avoid both the obsequiousness of Macron and the exasperation of Merz. He has to talk to Trump as an equal.

It’s an approach recommended by Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian prime minister, who suggests that ultimately standing up to Trump is the only way to do business with him. As Turnbull wrote last year: “… he may not like strength and directness from other leaders, but after his rage subsides, he respects them for it.” 

Turnbull is not alone in taking a rather more grown up approach than either Macron or Merz. In Canada, Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney is making an unexpected surge for the premiership, in part by making light of Trump’s 51st state “jokes ,” while refusing to entertain his bullying.

Starmer knows what he wants from his precious White House meeting: a reprieve from tariffs coupled with agreements on tech and AI, and a commitment from Trump to provide a backstop security guarantee on Ukraine in return for a peacekeeping force led by France and Britain and paid for by Europe. Tuesday’s defense spending pledge was the down payment. And Starmer will play for time, aware that a rushed peace deal is the worst possible scenario for the beleaguered Zelenskiy .

Starmer also has some inducements to dangle. A state visit including face time with the Royal Family will be a draw for the royalist Trump, and perhaps he can make a case for shielding Scottish whiskey producers in the president’s mother’s home country from his trade war. His offer to act as a “bridge” between Europe and the US could be an attractive one if Trump is persuaded that Brexit Britain can be a more dynamic, agile partner than the sclerotic, rule-bound EU, and not something to be walked all over. 

But whichever version of Trump he encounters — the bully, the charmer, the easily distractible — Starmer must not be afraid to stand his ground. It’s the only language Trump respects. 

A firmer stance would be electorally popular, too — a recent YouGov poll found that half of UK respondents thought he should be more critical of Trump, compared with only 30% who favoured a more conciliatory approach. And it would shore up his left flank, as Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey sees potential for wooing Labour voters by condemning America’s populist tilt.

But even aside from the domestic benefits, to achieve what he wants and protect Britain’s interests on the world stage, the mild-mannered lawyer has to learn how to be a tough guy. That means he must insist on Ukraine’s voice being heard as much as Russia’s in any peace deal; he must be prepared to retaliate over tariffs; and he cannot allow Trump to riff on JD Vance’s dystopian vision of Europe as the land the culture wars brought low.

Some of those tasked with figuring out Starmer’s best strategy for dealing with the president have taken to quoting a New York Times piece written by David Brooks during Trump’s first term: “We’ve got this perverse situation in which the vast analytic powers of the entire world are being spent trying to understand a guy whose thoughts are often just six fireflies beeping randomly in a jar.”

With the added malignity of Trump 2.0, the fireflies are now bluebottles, and the president is too dangerous to go unchallenged. 

Rosa Prince is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering UK politics and policy. She was formerly an editor and writer at Politico and the Daily Telegraph, and is the author of "Comrade Corbyn" and "Theresa May: The Enigmatic Prime Minister."

Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.  

Credit: Bloomberg