Sir Keir Starmer is risking a snub to Donald Trump by refusing to visit the President-elect at his Florida mansion on his way to the G20 summit of world leaders next week.
Some world leaders are thought to be planning to meet Trump at his Mar-a-Lago mansion before heading to the G20 summit in Brazil.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei will meet with Trump and tycoon Elon Musk next week at Mar-a-Lago, according to the spokesman, for example.
A gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is scheduled to take place from November 14 to November 16 at Mar-a-Lago, which could see other right wing leaders visit.
Starmer risks Trump snub by not visiting him at Mar-a-Lago on way to G20
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Starmer is under pressure to cement his links to Trump before the incoming President takes office on January 20 amid fears he could slap tariffs on UK exports bound for the US.
However Starmer told reporters that he was not planning on stopping in Florida en route to the G20 to meet with Trump.
He said: “No we’re going straight there as far as I know.
“To be perfectly honest, next week is a long way off just at the moment, but as far as I know we’re going straight there.
“I obviously spoke to him as you know on the phone on Wednesday evening – a very constructive, very good conversation.
“And obviously I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to speak to him for a couple of hours in New York where we discussed a wider range of issues and we’ll continue to do so.”
Starmer met Trump for dinner in his apartment in Trump Tower when the Prime Minister was in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Asked then by GB News what he thought of Starmer, Trump told the People’s Channel: “I actually think he’s very nice. He ran a great race, he did very well, it’s very early he’s very popular.”
However, Starmer finds himself in a difficult position with the incoming Trump administration after resurfaced comments from Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused the 45th President of being a “neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”.
Labour staffers also rubbed the President-elect up the wrong way by campaigning for Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US Presidential Election on November 5.
The situation left Reform UK leader Nigel Farage positioning himself for a new “interlocutor” role.
However, a number of Labour bigwigs rejected the Clacton MP’s offer.
