Years ago, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy strongly criticized US President-elect Donald Trump, describing him as a “misogynist,” a “neo-Nazi sympathizer,” and a “xenophobe.” He also considered him a “deep threat to the international order,” and even threatened to protest. If he visits London.
As Trump prepares to return to the White House, Lammy’s comments have once again come to light, potentially posing a “potential diplomatic problem” for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, according to the newspaper.Telegraph“.
In recent months, Lamy has sought to improve relations with Trump, and after his victory in the US presidential elections on Wednesday, he said in his congratulatory message, “The British government looks forward to working with you.”
The newspaper noted,Financial Times“, indicating that this letter is Lamy’s latest steps to mend relations with Trump and his supporters, pointing out that he had previously visited the United States 7 times as Foreign Secretary in the shadow government, and twice since the British elections last July.
During those visits, Lamy met with US Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, and a number of Republican Party leaders.
Last September witnessed the “most important progress” in Lammy’s plan to repair relations, when he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer attended a private dinner with the then Republican candidate at Trump Tower.
During two and a half hours, the three talked about Trump’s passion for Scotland, where his mother was born, and where he owns a golf resort. The president-elect also expressed his interest in the British royal family, according to what the British newspaper reported from sources familiar with the conversation.
Starmer, who asked his team to “tweet responsibly” on the eve of the election results, said the dinner with Trump was “very constructive.”
But it remains unclear whether these attempts and initiatives are sufficient to erase memories of Lamy’s sharp criticism.
The Conservative Party gets in on the act
Hours after Lammy’s congratulatory message to Trump, the new Conservative Party leader, Kimmy Badenoch, in her first confrontation with Starmer in the House of Commons, raised several questions, including whether the Secretary of State had apologized to Trump personally for his statements, which she described as “insulting and obscene.” “.
Badenoch noted that a number of Labor government ministers had signed, years ago, a proposal calling for preventing Trump from giving a speech in the British Parliament, urging Starmer to go beyond that by inviting the president-elect to speak to parliamentarians.
When Starmer’s spokeswoman was asked whether Lammy would remain Foreign Secretary for the duration of this parliamentary session, she said: “Yes, he is Foreign Secretary.”
Starmer also spoke to Trump to congratulate him on his election victory. The two sides discussed the strength of the relationship between Britain and the United States, including the areas of defense, security, growth and prosperity, according to the British government statement, which said that Starmer discussed with Trump “the situation in the Middle East, and stressed the importance of regional stability.”
While recalling the meeting that took place in September, they talked about the “strong ties and close relationship” between Trump and London, and expressed their aspiration to work together, according to the British statement.
The Financial Times reported that billionaire Elon Musk, who had previously mocked Starmer on social media and claimed after the riots last summer that Britain was heading toward a “civil war,” would be one of the most important obstacles to the development of the “special relationship” between the two countries.
After not receiving an invitation to Starmer’s international investment summit last month, Musk attacked Britain, saying that “no one should visit it.”
The Financial Times expected that Musk’s potential participation in the new Trump administration would influence the president-elect’s views on the nature of relations with allied countries.
Lamy’s criticism of Trump
During Trump’s first term in the White House, Lammy strongly criticized Trump, considering him a “deep threat to the international order,” a “neo-Nazi sympathizer,” and a “xenophobe.”
In February 2017, when he was a member of Parliament, Lammy said that he was “ashamed” that the Conservative government invited Trump to the United Kingdom.
He added at the time: “Is this great country so desperate for a trade deal that we throw all our history out the window? We didn’t do it for Kennedy or Truman or Reagan, but we are saying to this man: Please come and we will put everything in place because we are so desperate.”
He continued: “I believe that this country is greater than that. I believe that my children deserve better than that. I believe that my daughter deserves better than that. I am ashamed that things have reached this point,” according to the Telegraph.
Lammy strongly criticized Trump during a meeting on the sidelines of the 2017 Labor Party conference in Brighton, condemning him for his handling of the far-right and white nationalist groups’ rally in August of that year in Charlottesville.
In comments reported by the Daily Mail at the time, Lammy said that he would protest Trump’s coming to the United Kingdom, adding that he was prepared to tie himself in front of the entrance to the Prime Minister’s Office in Britain for that.
Trump ultimately declined the invitation in June 2017, due to British public anger over the proposed visit.
In 2018, Lammy criticized Trump for canceling a visit to a cemetery for American soldiers in France to celebrate the centenary of the end of World War I, due to bad weather.
Lamy also warned against “alienating our neighbors in Europe” and falling “in the grip of the American tyrant,” in response to a comment Trump made on Twitter about France during World War II, after Emmanuel Macron suggested creating a “real European army.”
Commenting on a Reuters report regarding American criticism of London over the way it treated a far-right activist, Lammy described Trump in July 2018 as “an extremist from the far right who supports neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan (which believes in white supremacy), and others.” “Racists.”
During a protest in London against Trump’s visit, during the same day, Lamy said in statements to the Independent newspaper that Trump’s presidency is “the worst that any of us could ever imagine,” considering it “a disaster for the United States and the international community. He is tearing apart… Climate change agreement, reimposes customs duties, and says no to the United Nations and no to the human rights system.”
After Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s summit in July 2018, Lamy said on the X website: “Trump is either viewed by dictators from Pyongyang to Moscow as a fool, or he is actively working to undermine the global order on which American prosperity is based.” “I don’t know which one it is, and I don’t know which one is more troubling.”
After Trump warned former British Prime Minister Theresa May, in November 2018, of the possibility of BRICS affecting the trade agreement between America and Britain, Lammy said: “Trump is not acting as an ally of the United Kingdom, and it is clear that he wants to isolate us and make us vulnerable in future trade negotiations.” “, considering that Britain “is stronger when we work with our friends and neighbors in Europe, and not against them.”
“fascist president”
In 2019, Lammy compared Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), to comments made by Adolf Hitler in a 1940 speech, according to what the Telegraph reported.
In July 2019, he also described him as a “fascist president” and accused him of working to amplify the British far right. “My heart goes out to the minorities living in the United States under the rule of this fascist president,” he said.
Two factors after the failure of the first visit, Trump visited Britain on June 3 and 5, 2019, and met the late Queen Elizabeth II at a welcoming party at Buckingham Palace, and an official banquet was held in his honor.
Before beginning his visit, Lammy urged Theresa May to reconsider inviting Trump, writing at the time: “Donald Trump, who is deceitful, xenophobic and narcissistic, is no friend of Britain, unfit to hold government office, let alone undeserving of the highest honors and a dinner with… The Queen,” adding, “Theresa May is selling the United Kingdom to a serial liar and deceiver.”
As he began his visit to London, Lammy said that his visit to the United Kingdom “is the final humiliation for Theresa May,” and added: “This is a president who insulted the Mayor of London after a terrorist attack, a president who equated white supremacists with those who protested against them, a president who denies the climate crisis and exacerbates its depth.” .
In 2019, Trump launched verbal attacks on 4 Democratic congresswomen of color who criticized his immigration policies. Trump asked them to “go back” to their countries, even though they are all American citizens.
Representative Ilhan Omar was one of the members targeted by Trump, and she is the first African refugee to become a member of Congress. Lamy condemned Trump’s words and described them as a “racist attack on Ilhan Omar.”
Lammy continued to criticize Trump for his statements, accusing him of “provoking white supremacist chants” at his rally.
In August 2019, Trump traveled to Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II, but earlier that month he caused controversy due to statements he made about this country.
When Trump was asked if he had a message for Poland on the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising to liberate the city from Nazi occupation, he replied: “I have a lot of respect for Poland, and as you know the people of Poland love me, and I love them. And I will go to Poland very soon.”
Commenting on a clip from this interview, Lamy considered that if Trump had entered high school, he would not have completed his studies.
In response to a Washington Post report that listed a number of Trump’s “misleading claims,” Lamy said that he “lies more per day than the average person goes to the bathroom, and this is not surprising, because everything that comes out of his mouth is just nonsense.”
During Trump’s presidential debate against Joe Biden in September 2020, the Republican candidate was asked if he was “ready to condemn white supremacist groups and militias” that were on the streets in the United States. Trump did not provide a direct answer.
Lamy said at the time, “Trump cannot even bring himself to explicitly condemn white supremacists. The whole world will breathe a sigh of relief if this dangerous clown is removed from office in November 2020.”
After the Capitol attacks on January 6, 2021, Lammy described Trump as an “enemy of democracy” and called on “every British politician who failed to condemn his actions after the presidential election to apologize.”
As he said in Another tweet “Trump’s entire presidency has been a period of recklessness, narcissism, and delusion,” he added, adding: “We condemn this president because we love America, and we love the best of America, the America of democracy, the America of hope, the America of Martin Luther King.”
In the final days of his presidency, Trump pardoned more than 140 people, including his allies. Lamy said at the time that it was “a fitting end to a corrupt and morally bankrupt administration,” adding: “The world is relieved to see your back.”
After Biden’s assumption of power in January 2021, Lamy said, “Joe Biden’s assumption of the position of president, succeeding Donald Trump, fills me with joy and pleasure,” adding: “Let us take inspiration from the United States, and let us make this the beginning of the end of the era of populism on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Lammy’s tweets, which span four years, raise questions about the nature of possible future relations between the UK and the US.
In an interview with the Telegraph, a British government spokesman referred to statements made by J.D. Vance, the US Vice President-elect, who once compared Trump to Hitler.
