17 hours Ago By Craig Munro
Neil Kinnock, centre, had harsh words for the US president (Pictures: AFP / AP / Getty)Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock has warned Sir Keir Starmer not to fawn over the ‘raging narcissists’ running the US government at his high-stakes meeting in Washington today.The Prime Minister is due to arrive at the White House just after midday local time (5pm UK time) as he tries to convince President Donald Trump to guarantee a security ‘backstop’ from the US as part of any peace deal for Ukraine.In recent weeks, Sir Keir and other government figures have strained to avoid excessive criticism or disagreement with the US administration that could put an agreement at risk.
But Kinnock, who led Labour between 1983 and 1992, suggested too much flattery may be a risk in itself when it comes to the president, his close adviser Elon Musk and Vice President J.D. Vance.
He told Metro: ‘Dealing with Trump and Musk and Vance and the rest of them should not include any form of sycophancy or deference.‘To some that will be diplomacy. They will treat it as weakness, and hold it in contempt.
They will also trying to exploit it. So the furthest we should go is courtesy.’The 82-year-old peer, who also spent five years as Vice-President of the European Commission, did not hide his disdain for the figures in charge.
He said: ‘I’ve got a new name for the US Presidency. It’s called “Trusk”, and when they join their new best friend, it’s called “Trusk-Putin”. ‘I mean I have nothing but contempt for them, and I think we would be much better off in close association with the adults in our continent than trying to deal in any practical and sustained fashion with these rampant narcissists.
’Donald Trump should not be treated with ‘sycophancy’, Kinnock argued (Picture: Reuters)Lord Kinnock’s words echoed those of Russian military expert Keir Giles, who said earlier this week that the Kremlin had ‘successfully flipped’ the White House to form a ‘Trumputin Pact’.The president has repeatedly adopted a pro-Russian angle on the war in Ukraine, suggesting Kyiv was responsible for starting the conflict and branding Volodymyr Zelensky a ‘dictator’.His government organised peace talks with Kremlin officials in Saudi Arabia without inviting any representatives from the Ukrainian side.
US government officials met their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia to talk about Ukraine (Picture: Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)Sir Keir was prepared to openly disagree with Trump on that point, stating that there could be no talks about the future of Ukraine without Ukraine present.But he has otherwise been treading very carefully ahead of his trip to Washington DC.On Tuesday, the PM announced in the House of Commons that he had set a target of spending 2.
5% of GDP on defence in 2027, with the aim of increasing that figure to 3% in the next Parliament – meaning before 2034.The commitment was welcomed by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who described it as a ‘strong step from an enduring partner’.Trump has previously called for dramatic increases in defence spending from European leaders, anticipating a significant shift in the transatlantic alliance where Europe cannot rely so heavily on the US for security.
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