Sir Keir Starmer with French President Emmanuel Macron (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer will host French President Emmanuel Macron for dinner tomorrow as they brace for ’s return as US President.
The leaders, embroiled in separate spats with , will hold long-planned talks at the Prime Minister’s countryside estate called Chequers.
The French president this week accused the world’s richest man of intervening directly in Europe’s democratic processes following a social media onslaught.
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Germany and France have warned Mr against threatening Greenland, after the US president-elect refused to rule out using military force to seize Denmark’s autonomous territory.
Sir Keir’s official spokesman said: “The meeting will focus on areas of cooperation and shared global challenges including support for , tech and AI, growth and tackling illegal migration.”
The meeting comes ahead of Mr Trump’s inauguration, and there have been concerns about what his return to the White House could mean for US support for .
It is also set against the backdrop of the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats being up by a quarter in 2024 on the previous year.
Some 36,816 people made the journey in 2024, a jump of 25% from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to figures from the Home Office.
Sir Keir, who has pledged to strengthen the UK’s ties with the EU, travelled to Paris in November to attend a French service on Armistice Day at the invitation of Mr Macron.
He was the first British prime minister to attend the event since Winston Churchill in 1944.