‘Starmer the charmer’ – PM Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump dominates much of the UK’s news this Friday. The British Prime Minister met with the US president in what much of the media is dubbing a ‘White House summit’. To almost everyone’s surprise, the meeting appeared to go well, with a UK-US trade deal expected soon, the president backing the prime minister’s Chagos deal, and the president effectively ruling out a US backstop for Ukraine.
Key takeaways
- A trade deal between the US and UK could happen “very quickly”, Trump has said
- Trump said he envisaged “a real trade deal”, which could see the UK avoid the kind of tariffs the US has been threatening on some of its trading partners
- Starmer used his trip to the White House to present Trump with the invitation letter from King Charles
- Trump said he was “inclined to go along with” the UK’s Chagos Islands deal. During the meeting, Trump said he had a “feeling” the deal was going to “work out very well”
The UK’s leading story – ‘Starmer the charmer’
The right-leaning papers find themselves in a bit of a muddle. They had been hoping this summit would end with the prime minister being humiliated, but to everyone’s surprise – the US President has signaled that a UK-US trade deal is in the works and Trump will back Starmer’s Chaogos deal – another sore point for the right-leaning papers.
The Daily Mail, Daily Express, The Sun, and the Daily Telegraph have, over the past few months, repeatedly condemned Starmer’s plans to hand over sovereignty – something they presumed the US president would do as well.
Most of the papers – left and right – use their headlines to express their surprise at the positivity of the meeting.
Britain’s right leaning media
The Daily Mail expresses its surprise at the unlikely bromance between the pair.
- The paper needs to link the success of Starmer’s meeting to something their reader base will appreciate – and here the link is to King Charles. Daily Mail readers are usually staunch royalists, and the King inviting Trump for a state visit is, for the paper, the link that’s made the PM’s meeting a success.
The Express highlights that the US President has promised a great deal for Brexit Britain.
- The Express finds itself in a similar situation, needing to find a link between Starmer’s win and the readership base of the paper. For the Express, it’s easy – Brexit. The paper is a long-time supporter of Brexit and Donald Trump and highlights the fact that if Britain was still in the EU, we wouldn’t have a UK-US deal – and the EU could still face US tariffs.
Britain’s left leaning media
The Daily Mirror says the royal invite from King Charles has ‘set the tone’ whilst reporting the PM and President ‘bonded.’
- The Mirror is politically left but a staunch supporter of the monarchy as well as being a tabloid. There’s no surprise that, while praising Starmer’s success, they’ve linked the diplomatic win to King Charles.
The i calls the prime minister “Charmer Starmer”, saying the meeting was a “diplomatic win”.
- The left-wing paper uses its front page to shower praise on Keir Starmer, suggesting a “jovial” Trump showered praise on the prime minister and highlighting that Trump has said he expected a US- UK economic deal, which could avert the threat of tariffs, to be struck quickly. In even more good news, the paper says work is already under way on a “great trade agreement.”
Editorials – What’s really being said?
Sometimes, you need to dig a little deeper to understand the bias in the reporting. Today is one of those days. Many of the headlines are straightforward, but look at the editorials, and you’ll clearly see what agenda each paper is pushing.
- Matthew Parris writes for The Times that Trump “patronised” the prime minister and it must have taken him “a fair amount of self-control not to pat our prime minister on the head.”
- The Telegraph’s editorial calls the meeting a “missed opportunity”. It says the prime minister had “room to advance Britain’s interests”, but instead “focused on getting his Chagos surrender over the line”.
- There’s no love lost between Donald Trump and the EU, but with Britain out of the EU, there may now be room for a UK-US trade deal. The Daily Express editorial calls it an “unexpected but very welcome announcement” after former president Joe Biden ruled out any discussions.
- The Daily Mirror’s editorial has a different take. The paper looks at how Trump’s support of Starmer’s Chagos deal has undermined the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage – saying both are “marginalised and powerless”.
The hidden story
Only two papers use their front pages to highlight one key aspect from the Trump-Starmer meeting – Starmer’s failure to get an American backstop for the Ukraine deal. The FT is one of the papers to lead with it, suggesting it’s a failure on the prime minister’s part, whilst the Guardian highlights Trump’s belief that the presence of American workers in Ukraine will effectively work as a backstop deterring Russia from invading again.
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Round-up of the newspapers
A look at what the rest of the UK newspapers are reporting.
PM’s White House summit: Special delivery
A “love-in” is how the Sun describes the Trump-Starmer meeting. Its front page carries a picture of the moment Starmer handed him the King’s personal invitation in full view of the cameras, which the paper says left the president “thrilled”.
Mystery of Hackman deaths
Mystery surrounds the death of actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead at his New Mexico home alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa. Police say they were not injured, but the circumstances are “suspicious enough” to warrant further investigation, the Metro reports.
The King invites Trump to Scotland
The Herald says the King has invited President Donald Trump to Scotland to discuss the details of an unprecedented second state visit to the UK.
St David’s Day call to celebrate Wales
Western Mail says people need “the time to enjoy St David’s Day in Wales, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader has said amid renewed calls for it to be come a bank holiday.
