Starmer Says He’s Not Planning to Visit Trump En Route to G-20

Keir Starmer said he’s not planning to call in on Donald Trump at his home in Florida next week, when the British prime minister will be traveling to Brazil for the Group of 20 leaders’ summit.
With Trump’s warnings about trade tariffs and questions over his stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine hanging over US-UK ties, speculation had mounted that Starmer might seek a head-start on what is likely to be a complicated second presidency to navigate, especially given the potential to stop off in Florida en route to or from Rio de Janeiro.
But asked if he was considering dropping in to Mar-a-Lago, as some other leaders are planning, Starmer told reporters “as far as I know” his plan is to travel directly to Rio de Janeiro. He referred to his call with Trump hours after his election win last week, as well as a meeting in September in New York “where we discussed a wider range of issues and we’ll continue to do so.”
Starmer was speaking to reporters on the plane from Paris, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, to Baku in Azerbaijan, where the British premier is attending United Nations climate talks. Trump’s election win forms the backdrop to both, as governments try to figure out how to respond to an incoming US president who they know from his previous tenure can be unpredictable.
For Starmer, there are potential flashpoints looming including over Ukraine. The prime minister was asked if he and Macron discussed whether to use the last weeks of Joe Biden’s administration to pressure the current president to allow Ukraine to fire British Storm Shadow cruise missiles — which rely on US navigation systems — into Russian territory.
“I’ve always said that we support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Starmer said, without mentioning missiles. “I’ve also said on a number of occasions, we need to put Ukraine in the best possible position.”
Trump has pledged to broker a swift end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, raising fears in Kyiv and among its allies about what kind of settlement he has in mind. 
Following Trump’s first win in 2016, it was former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who wrote what became the playbook for dealing with a leader who loves flattery, when he dropped a speaking arrangement in Peru to stop off in New York and became the first world leader to meet the president-elect.
With the EC meeting being held in Peru this week, and the G-20 in Brazil next, some world leaders are expected to repeat Abe’s strategy to get a diplomatic head-start on the next four years of Trump’s second presidency. Argentine President Javier Milei is confirmed to speak at a gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Mar-a-Lago, with Japan’s Shigeru Ishiba and Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto reportedly seeking to meet Trump.
But Starmer appeared disinclined to follow on his way to Rio. “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,” he said.
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