EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — President once suggested his “furthers” the U.S.-U.K. relationship.
Now he’s getting the chance to prove it.
British Prime Minister is meeting Monday with Trump at a golf property owned by the president’s family near Turnberry in southwestern Scotland — then later traveling to Abderdeen, on the country’s northeast coast, where there’s another Trump golf course and a third is opening soon.
During his first term in 2019, Trump posted of his Turnberry property, “Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!”
Starmer is not a golfer, but toggling between Trump’s Scottish courses shows the outsized influence the president puts on properties bearing his name — and on .
While China initially responded to Trump’s tariff threats by retaliating with of its own on U.S. goods but has since begun negotiating easing trade tensions, Starmer and his country have taken a far softer approach.
He’s gone out of his way to work with Trump, flattering the president repeatedly during a February visit to the White House, and teaming up to announce a joint on tariffs for some key products in May.
Starmer and Trump then a trade agreement during the G7 summit in Canada that freed the U.K.’s aerospace sector from U.S. tariffs and used quotas to reduce them on auto-related industries from 25% to 10% while increasing the amount of U.S. beef it pledged to import.
The prime minister’s office says Monday’s meeting will also touch on in Gaza, and that it hopes to welcome the Trump administration working with officials in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire.
Starmer plans to stress the urgent need to cease the fighting and work to end .
Also on the agenda, according to Starmer’s office, are efforts to promote a possible peace deal to end fighting in — particularly efforts at forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table in the next 50 days.
Protesters, meanwhile, have planned a demonstration in Balmedie, near Trump’s existing course, after demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday to decry the president’s visit.
Discussions with Starmer follow Trump meeting Sunday with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry course. They announced a trade framework that will put 15% tariffs on most goods from both countries — though many major details remain pending.
On Tuesday, Trump will be at the site of for an official ribbon cutting. It opens to the public on Aug. 13 and tee times are already for sale — with the course betting that a presidential visit can help boost sales.
There are still lingering U.S.-Britain trade issues that need fine-tuning after the previous agreements, including the tariff rates Washington imposes on steel imported from the U.K.
Even as some trade details linger and both leaders grapple with increasingly difficult choices in Gaza and Ukraine, however, Starmer’s attempts to stay on Trump’s good side appears to be working.
“The U.K. is very well-protected. You know why? Because I like them — that’s their ultimate protection,” Trump said during the G7.
Also likely to improve Trump’s mood is the fact that the U.S. ran an $11.4 billion trade surplus with Britain last year, meaning it exported more to the U.K. than it imported. Census Bureau figures this year indicate that the surplus could grow.
The president has for months railed against yawning U.S. trade deficits with key allies and sees tariffs as a way to try and close them in hurry.
Trump is set to return to Britain in September for . Trump will be hosted then by and at Windsor Castle.
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