But it’s not all doom and gloom, as hopes grow that Britain could avoid tariffs on pharmaceutical products — which Trump had threatened to impose as soon as the start of August. A U.K. government figure said a deal on pharmaceuticals was “much more likely” than immediate progress on steel or the blanket 10 percent reciprocal tariffs. If it comes off it would be a good-news story for the government and the industry, which contributes significantly to U.K. GDP.
3) The chance to keep the president’s mind on foreign affairs
The meeting will also be a chance for Starmer to attempt to pull Trump’s focus back to two long-running crises where the U.S. can play a critical role: Ukraine and Gaza.
Kyiv’s allies were heartened when Trump agreed a plan with NATO’s Mark Rutte at the White House to send more weapons to Ukraine funded by Europeans. However, the president’s boldest promise on this front — a pledge that “we will send them Patriots [missiles], which they desperately need” — appears to be stalled.
The German government is particularly frustrated that Trump has so far refused to send any of his more than 60 Patriots over, and Berlin’s lobbying has fallen on deaf ears up to this point. A Western official said “it’s all still very much being worked out” but that the U.K. is part of the effort to turn the White House’s commitment into action.
No.10 said Sunday night that Starmer — who is under intense pressure at home on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza — will raise with Trump “what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long.”
London has been trying to coordinate with Paris and Berlin on its response to the famine-like conditions now facing the people of Gaza, aiming to pile pressure on Israel to allow access to water and food for the civilian population there. But, despite mounting calls in his own party to act, Starmer has not followed French President Emmanuel Macron’s vow to recognize the Palestinian state. Trump’s brusque reaction to Macron’s move this weekend shows just how delicate the balancing act is that Starmer will need to perform.
The Starmer-Trump meeting meanwhile comes just days after the U.K. defense and foreign secretaries hot-footed it to Australia to demonstrate their steadfast commitment to the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines deal, a trilateral initiative with the U.S. aimed at providing a bulwark against China.
Starmer’s government, like the administration in Canberra, is keen to show willing on the pact after Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a past critic of AUKUS, launched a surprise review of the treaty back in the spring. Warm words on the defense set-up, like the ones Starmer gleaned from Trump at the G7 in June, would be a win.
