US President Donald Trump has launched a series of broadsides over the past few weeks at most of his European allies, but his focus on the UK has exposed uncomfortable realities for both the British government and Brexiteers.
When Trump won the 2016 US election, Jacob Rees Mogg, then a Conservative MP, opined that his elevation to the White House would herald a golden era for what was referred to as the “special relationship” between the US and the UK. Ten years after the referendum, the failure of Brexit to live up to any of its promises is starkly underlined by the recent series of threats made by the US president against the UK.
Tensions between London and Washington initially stemmed from Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on the UK, as well as seven other European countries, over the decision to send troops to Greenland. Trump then belittled the role played by UK troops in Afghanistan, even though 457 British soldiers were killed during the mission, drawing a sharp response from British prime minister Keir Starmer.
More recently, the US president warned Starmer that it would be “dangerous” to sign a trade deal with China during his visit to Beijing and once again raised the possibility of imposing tariffs on the UK as a punitive measure.
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The UK must accept that the relationship it has with the US is now entirely transactional. As Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, has pointed out, the world is becoming a more dangerous place for mid-sized powers.
Polls show that British public opinion is moving against Brexit, which gives Starmer the political cover to tear up what were previous red lines in relation to the EU. A security and defence union with Brussels is the most obvious starting point.
Trump’s weaponisation of trade also makes the case for the UK to rejoin the EU Single Market. Discussion are already underway for closer UK alignment with the EU in agriculture and energy. There are benefits for both sides in this process continuing.
