When Keir Starmer first visited Trump in February 2025, the situation could not have been more different. The notoriously unpredictable president had just won the US election and was at the height of his powers \u2013 and was showing muscle on Nato<\/a> and Ukraine, and with threats of tariffs.<\/p>\n Starmer\u2019s \u201ckeep calm and carry on\u201d<\/a> strategy helped keep Trump on board the defence alliance and also protected the UK from the worst of his aggression over trade. But it came with a cost: he was often left looking obsequious and at odds with the national mood.<\/p>\n Burnham defended his predecessor\u2019s approach but in June signalled he would take a different direction<\/a>. \u201cObviously the relationship is important to the UK, but not to the point where we just go along with anything they say,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got in trouble in the past when that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Downing Street insiders expect Burnham to be a bit more forceful when he feels there\u2019s a need to stand up for British interests. But there is no suggestion he will follow the more combative approach<\/a> of Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister.<\/p>\n Instead, one source said he would probably take a \u201cthird way\u201d between Starmer and Carney, pushing back more than his predecessor publicly and privately, but avoiding open diplomatic warfare. A second source said the prime minister had three ambitions for Tuesday\u2019s talks: bond with Trump, make the case for Ukraine, and avoid any drama.<\/p>\n Early clues about how the talks might go from the White House perspective have been mixed. In June, Trump suggested Burnham was \u201cextremely liberal\u201d<\/a> (not as a compliment) and dismissively described him as the \u201cmayor of a town\u201d.<\/p>\n The US president remains angry the UK did not join his strikes on Iran, and has attacked the country as a \u201cdying\u201d nation \u201con the edge of disaster\u201d. More recent comments that he might not help if Argentina again tried to seize the Falklands<\/a>, and that he would love to see a united Ireland<\/a>, suggest his displeasure has not abated.<\/p>\n But that will not necessarily translate into a strained personal relationship with Burnham. The pair have spoken on the phone twice and are said to have got on. The prime minister\u2019s laid-back, confident style is likely to go down well with Trump, who has already shown with the New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, that he can warm to leftwingers.<\/p>\n On policy too, government insiders point to small reasons for hope: Trump responded warmly to reports the UK government was going to \u201copen up\u201d the North Sea (although the decision to drill at two fields has been delayed) and has \u2013 so far \u2013 been relatively restrained when asked about the UK\u2019s planned West Bank settlement trade ban<\/a>.<\/p>\n Their meeting will be fraught with tension over both matters, and other areas \u2013 such as defence spending and the Iran war \u2013 have potential for further clashes.<\/p>\n It will help Burnham that Tuesday\u2019s talks will be held on the comparatively neutral ground of the UN, rather than at the White House. As such, he will avoid the jeopardy of an Oval Office press conference that Trump could easily derail.<\/p>\n Trump may also decide he has had enough fights for one day. His meeting with Burnham will follow his address to the UN. Last year Trump told world leaders their countries were \u201cgoing to hell\u201d<\/a> over their immigration policies. The UK meeting may end up as just a sideshow.<\/p>\n
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