Trump taunts drive Starmer into EU’s arms

Trump taunts drive Starmer into EU’s arms

From Political Fix by Financial Times

April 2, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Donald Trump's recent insults towards Sir Keir Starmer and the implications for UK-EU relations and upcoming local elections.

Donald Trump has heaped insults on Sir Keir Starmer in recent weeks over his stance on the Iran war. The US president labelled the UK prime minister “no Winston Churchill”, said Britain’s aircraft carriers were mere “toys” and told Britain to “go get your own oil” from the Gulf. So perhaps it’s unsurprising that the PM appears to be pivoting heavily towards the EU. Host Lucy Fisher unpicks the shift with colleagues Jim Pickard, Anna Gross and Robert Shrimsley. They also discuss how the Middle East conflict will play out in the upcoming local elections. Have a question for the panel? We’re planning a question and answer episode. Email your questions to political fix@ft.com Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, and Bluesky: @ lucyfisher.ft.com ; Robert: @robertshrimsley and @robertshrimsley.bsky.social; Jim @PickardJE and @pickardje.bsky.social and Anna @AnnaSophieGross & @annasophiegross.bsky.social Want more?  Keir Starmer signals major UK pivot towards EU after Donald Trump’s taunts Lessons from history on how to survive a fuel crisis Cracks appear in US-UK security co-operation after Trump-Starmer tensions Starmer strikes upbeat note amid dismal polling ahead of May 7 local…

People in this episode

Host: Lucy Fisher

Guests: Jim Pickard, Anna Gross, Robert Shrimsley

Topics covered

  • UK politics
  • US-UK relations
  • Middle East conflict
  • local elections
  • EU relations

Keywords

  • Donald Trump
  • Keir Starmer
  • EU
  • local elections
  • Iran war
  • UK politics
  • Middle East conflict

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Financial Times

Places: UK, EU

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