Trump Hosts U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer At Trump Tower For Dinner

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday hosted U.K. leader Keir Starmer at Trump Tower in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, as the British prime minister tries to shore up his relationship with the GOP presidential nominee ahead of November’s closely watched race.

Starmer, who became prime minister following his center-left Labour Party’s landslide win in the July general election, said the meeting was meant to “establish a relationship” between the two men, who had not previously met face-to-face.

“I’m a great believer in personal relations on the international stage,” Starmer said ahead of the meeting. “I think it really matters that you know who your counterpart is in any given country, and know them, you know, personally, get to know them face to face.”

The meeting lasted two hours, according to Politico.

The U.K. leader said he also intended to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris as part of his 48-hour trip to the U.S. but the two weren’t able to get together due to “the usual diary challenges.” Starmer has never met Harris in person.

Trump and Harris are locked in a tight contest ahead of November, according to an average of polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight, which currently shows the Democratic presidential nominee holding a narrow lead.

Starmer, who visited Trump Tower following the conclusion of his speech at the United Nations, was accompanied by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who previously opposed a 2018 Trump visit to the U.K., describing the then-president as a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress.”

Lammy has since defended his comments and said he would work with Trump if he were elected to the White House again.

Prior to their meeting, Trump described Starmer as “very nice” and commended him on his performance in the U.K. general election.

“He ran a great race, he did very well,” Trump added. “It’s very early but he’s popular.”

A majority of Britons favor a Harris win in November, according to a poll released earlier this month.

Asked by reporters if a Trump victory would pose a challenge for the U.K. given the former president’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, a major foreign policy priority for the U.K., Starmer noted the two countries’ relationship has been “forged in really difficult circumstances.”

“That always sits above whoever holds the particular office, either in the U.S. or the U.K.,” Starmer added.

Trump, who has previously opposed additional U.S. funding for Kyiv, on Thursday did not directly answer whether Ukraine should be prepared to cede part of its territory to Moscow to end the war.

“We need peace,” he said, ahead of his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scheduled for Friday.