1 week Ago By Ciaran McGrath
Angela Rayner 's telephone call with JD Vance , the US Vice President-elect, may have been slightly awkward in light of the scathing remarks she made about Donald Trump in the past. The Deputy Prime Minister said she discussed with Mr Vance the “special relationship between our great countries”. The call took place on November 7, the day after Mr Trump was crowned the winner of the US presidential election.
In a statement on X, Ms Rayner said it was “good to speak” with Mr Vance and that they had discussed “working together” in the future. Four years ago, Ms Rayner called Mr Trump - who was about to finish his first term as President - a “buffoon” with “no place in the White House.” During the pandemic, she labelled him an “embarrassment” and accused him of “killing thousands of Americans by giving them duff advice”, a comment in reference to his apparent suggestion that the COVID -19 virus could be killed by injecting bleach.
The Deputy Prime Minister also referred to Mr Trump as a “phoney president” and, on January 6 2021, when his supporters stormed the US Capitol, claimed the Republicans had “blood on their hands”. Ms Rayner is just one of several senior government figures, including Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer , to have been highly critical of Mr Trump in the past. Sir Keir’s administration now faces the challenge of mending fences with Mr Trump’s team.
The Prime Minister spoke to Mr Trump on Wednesday, although in doing so, he was behind other leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Sir Keir yesterday dismissed claims that he was “too left-wing” for Mr Trump, insisting that they had a “very positive” and “constructive” phone conversation on Wednesday night. Responding to reports that the President-elect had repeatedly used the expression,” Sir Keir said, “I had a very good meeting with President-elect Trump a few weeks ago, when we had dinner together in New York, and that was very positive, very constructive.
” Speaking to broadcasters in Budapest on Thursday, he emphasised that the special relationship “was forged in very difficult circumstances historically,” adding, “In our joint view, it’s as important today as it’s ever been.” Meanwhile, Joe Biden pledged to ensure a “peaceful and orderly transition” to Mr Trump and called on Americans to “bring down the temperature” of political debate. He insisted he would “make every day count” for the remainder of his presidency, indicating that he plans to implement a series of executive orders before his former rival takes office.
Mr Biden has already moved to block oil drilling in locations Mr Trump plans to exploit. The Democrats are now searching for answers over Kamala Harris ’s defeat, with some blaming Mr Biden for being “arrogant” by delaying his withdrawal from the race until July. Besides Ms Rayner and Mr Lammy, Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary who will spearhead any free trade talks between the UK and the US, has also been critical of Mr Trump.
Seven years ago, he said the President-elect had “shamefully boasted about sexually assaulting women” and condemned what he called Mr Trump’s “bigotry towards Muslims.” Mr Vance was himself once a vocal critic of Mr Trump, even comparing him to Hitler, but later became a key supporter and was picked as his running mate. Labour figures have suggested that Mr Vance’s previous criticisms show that Labour’s own past remarks about the President-elect will not endanger the special relationship between the US and the UK.
However, Mr Trump’s own son, Donald Trump Jr, last week appeared to hint that it would not all be plain sailing when asked about the revelation that Labour staffers had been volunteering for Democrat rival Kamala Harris . Questioned by ITV News US correspondent Dan Rivers at a rally last week, he replied: "It's certainly not a great start, because it's clear what they're doing and it's absolutely lunacy what I say with going on in the UK right now when they're jailing people for misgendering someone. “I mean, it's honestly disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves.
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