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Sir Keir Starmer had wanted this week to get on with his “cost of living tour” of the country to tap into voters’ concerns in this all-important election year.
Donald Trump’s Greenland threat obstructed that: Over the weekend, the prime minister and his team have been locked in talks in Downing Street, and with European allies, over how to respond to President Trump’s latest audacious move.
The president’s threat to apply an additional levy on goods from the UK, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Finland from 1 February is a moment of huge escalation in tensions between allies over Greenland that has astonished and angered.
“It’s through the looking glass,” opined one official. “We don’t know if he’s going to back down, what if he doesn’t?”
Starmer holds ‘short and cordial’ call with Trump over Greenland tariff move – latest updates
For now, the prime minister and his team are working to get him to do exactly that.
“As before, we’re taking a deep breath and using relationships to figure out exactly where the US are before reacting to every social media post,” said one figure involved. “What the PM has said publicly illustrates how we feel and how we have been working on it this weekend.”
Read more: Why Trump says the US ‘needs’ Greenland – and what the fallout could be
Sir Keir said on Saturday that the decision to impose 10% tariffs on the UK and seven other European countries was “completely wrong” and reiterated his position that the future of Greenland is “a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes”.
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