President Trump was unfailingly polite to Britain’s Sir Keir Starmer during his visit to Scotland, pouring on praise while simultaneously landing gut-punches as he tore apart every single government policy.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was hosted as a guest — in his own country — by U.S. President Donald Trump at his Scottish golf courses and country house on Monday. While Starmer and the attendant media were constantly reminded by Trump how much he likes his British counterpart, the laid-on flattery was quickly recognised by observers as the velvet glove cloaking an iron fist intent on rattling a left-wing government dragging Britain down.
Riffing off press questions, Trump made abundantly clear with cocked eye and body language alone his inner thoughts on the UK government’s assault on freedom of speech, expression, faith, and information. Later, President Trump sat beside Starmer and offered fatherly advice on how to win elections, rattling through a list of policies popular with ordinary people that amounts to a total repudiation of everything the UK leader’s left-wing Labour Party stands for.
President Trump said “you know, politics is pretty simple… generally speaking the one who cuts taxes the most, the one who gives you the lowest energy prices, the best kind of energy, the one who keeps you out of wars… stop the crime, and in your case a big immigration component” can be sure to win elections.
Punishing as having to sit through this was for Starmer, the cameras of the world media focusing on Starmer looking into the middle distance with an apparently vacant expression, the UK’s other political leaders also caught a little flak. Making an accurate assessment that British politics has resolved into a two-party game between Starmer’s Labour and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK — “I assume there’s a thing going on between you and Nigel, and that’s OK, it’s two parties” — Trump handily dismissed the existence of the Conservative Party and the rest.
The default party of government in Britain for two centuries, the Conservatives spent their last 14 years in power piling up taxes and throwing the nation’s borders wide open, precisely the opposite of the Trump victory strategy as expressed.
And the pressure piled on further on Tuesday, with the firmest hint yet from Trump to the United Kingdom that all is not going as well as it could. Soaring energy prices have been a major political issue for the United Kingdom for years, as the global economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent natural gas prices soaring, leaving the United Kingdom scrambling. Despite sitting on vast energy reserves under the North Sea and with shale gas underground, the UK’s left-wing government refuses to drill, being so wedded to its green ideals..
Waking up in Scotland on Tuesday morning, President Trump took to Truth Social and blasted Starmer: “North Sea Oil is a TREASURE CHEST for the United Kingdom.
“The taxes are so high, however, that it makes no sense. They have essentially told drillers and oil companies that, ‘we don’t want you.’ Incentivize the drillers, FAST. A VAST FORTUNE TO BE MADE for the UK, and far lower energy costs for the people!”.
Sir Keir could perhaps have taken solace in his strength as a leader, letting the words of the U.S. President wash over him had he won a thumping electoral victory, or if he was riding high in the polls. As it is, Starmer won a loveless victory at the ballot box last year, getting fewer votes than an election loser in normal times and being propelled into power only through the collapse of the previous government.
Furthermore, his approval ratings have quickly plunged to historic lows in his first year.
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