It’s unlikely that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was looking forward to his meeting with Donald Trump on Monday after the president had already embarrassed European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on migration and ‘green’ energy—and, of course, with a totally one-sided trade agreement.
And as it turned out, he would have been right to be wary.
Critics of the prime minister were especially pleased to see Trump help reignite the debate on Labour’s changes to inheritance tax for farmers, which have endangered family-owned farms and put national food security at risk.
The president explained that he ended similar taxes for U.S. farmers because they were leading many to consider suicide. Britain’s National Farmers’ Union responded by thanking Trump for “backing your farmers,” adding that “we need our government to do the same,” while the ‘No Farmers, No Food’ campaign group mocked Starmer for “awkwardly [looking] on in silence.”
Donald Trump discusses getting rid of the estate {inheritance} tax on family farms in the USA because of the financial and mental health impact on farmers. Keir Starmer awkwardly looks on in silence. pic.twitter.com/nktgNBS01b
— No Farmers, No Food (@NoFarmsNoFoods) July 28, 2025
The prime minister looked no less awkward when the conversation turned to Britain’s ‘real opposition,’ Reform. Trump said—as he has many times before—that party leader Nigel Farage “is a friend of mine” and has “done very well.” To be fair, he also described Starmer as “a friend,” although he didn’t go so far as to touch on this friend’s political performance, saying only that “the one who cuts taxes the most, the one who gives you the lowest energy prices … the one that keeps you out of wars” will win.
Speaking of friends, Trump also bashed Starmer ally and London Mayor Sadiq Khan as a “nasty person” who has done a “terrible job.” He then appeared to ignore Starmer’s insistence that “he’s a friend of mine” and doubled down on his view that “no, I think he’s done a terrible job.”
🚨🎥 WATCH: Donald Trump says Sadiq Khan is a "nasty person" who has done a "terrible job" as London Mayor
On a more serious note, the president also seemed to threaten Britain’s Labour administration on the subject of free speech, saying it would be a “mistake” to censor his social media site ‘Truth.’
Broadcaster Patrick Christys said the (mostly one-way) conversation “highlighted yet again that Britain is a lion of a country, run by a pussycat of a man.”
Even the leftist Guardian newspaper poked fun at “Sidekick Starmer” for failing to “get a word in.”
You can read up on some more of the worst moments from the meeting here.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
