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U.K.'s center-left government sends 'warm congratulations' to Trump

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses a press conference with his Polish counterpart after talks at the Prime Minister's Office building in Warsaw, Poland, on January 17, 2025. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images)
Sergei Gapon
/
AFP via Getty Images
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses a press conference with his Polish counterpart after talks at the Prime Minister's Office building in Warsaw, Poland, on January 17, 2025. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images)

LONDON – The U.K.'s center-left government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been making an effort to woo President Trump today.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered Trump his "warmest congratulations" and said the pair would "continue to build upon the unshakeable foundations of our historic alliance."

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy congratulated and praised the president, telling local media that "most of the world is glad Trump is back."

Lammy's comments are in stark contrast to what he said about Trump the last time he was President.

In 2017, Lammy tweeted that if Trump were to visit the United Kingdom, Lammy would "be out protesting on the streets."

"He is a racist KKK and Nazi sympathizer," Lammy, then an opposition lawmaker, wrote less than a year into Trump's first administration. He also wrote a 2018 magazine article calling the then-President "a profound threat to the international order."

But writing on Xshortly after the Trump was sworn in, Lammy congratulated him .

"I look forward to further strengthening the special relationship over the years to come," he wrote.

The prime minister and U.K. officials watched the Trump's speech streamed on news channels in Downing Street. None of Starmer's top team were invited. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was, however, pictured at Trump's inauguration. Another former prime minister, Liz Truss, and far-right U.K. lawmaker and friend of Trump, Nigel Farage, are also in Washington for inauguration celebrations.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Fatima Al-Kassab
[Copyright 2024 NPR]