Will Trump sideline Andy Burnham during their first face-to-face meeting because he 'won't kiss the ring in the way Donald likes?'
- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
By GLEN OWEN and CAROLINE GRAHAM, US EDITOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
Published: | Updated:
Diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic are trying to solve a particularly knotty problem this weekend: how long should Tuesday's meeting between Andy Burnham and Donald Trump last?
And another worry is: how should they stop the US President roaming off piste into treacherous diplomatic waters?
Ahead of the pair's first face-to-face encounter at the United Nations, one White House source told The Mail on Sunday they were trying to 'limit the President's exposure' to Mr Burnham, because the Prime Minister 'will not kiss the ring in the way Donald likes'.
Mr Burnham and Mr Trump have spoken twice on the phone since he entered Downing Street, with the exchanges said to have been cordial.
In theory, Tuesday's meeting – arranged to coincide with Mr Burnham's first participation at the UN General Assembly – will stick to relatively safe topics such as AI, Iran and Ukraine.
But in recent weeks, the President – who has previously described Mr Burnham as 'the mayor of a town' and 'on the liberal side' – has departed from decades of careful Anglo-British diplomacy.
He has done so by calling for a united Ireland and questioning the UK's right to sovereignty over the Falklands.
There are also stark differences over Labour's reluctance to drill in the North Sea, the UK's level of defence spending as a member of Nato and Ed Miliband's decision to sanction Israeli settlers.
Andy Burnham is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the United Nations this week, withdiplomats working to manage the length and focus of their first face-to-face talks
Trump has criticised the UK government's agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius
In particular, Mr Trump has criticised the Government's decision to relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, home to the joint UK-US military base at Diego Garcia, by describing it as an act of 'great stupidity'. His opposition means the deal with Mauritius is yet to be ratified.
British officials have worked hard to avoid the humiliation suffered by Labour's Gordon Brown at the UN in 2009, when No10 made multiple requests for private talks with then president Barack Obama – only for it to turn into an informal 15-minute chat in a kitchen.
A British official says: 'It will be more formal than Obama but the timings are unclear. It's hard to control at the UN – anything could happen.'
The Prime Minister plans to be less fawning in his approach to Mr Trump than predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, pledging to 'say what he feels' about areas of difference.
When the President indicated that he might not help the UK to defend the Falklands if Argentina launched an attack, Mr Burnham said Britain would be 'relentless' in defending the islanders' right to be British.
And during his time as mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham suggested Mr Trump would not be welcome in the city due to his 'poisonous' politics.
But after succeeding Sir Keir this summer, the Prime Minister said that he tried 'to find common ground' with other politicians. Mr Burnham added: 'He's said things as well, and everyone says things as politicians.
'In the moment you meet people where they're at, and you find a connection with people, and that's always been my style.'
Mr Trump made his comments backing a united Ireland last weekend while meeting Irish premier Micheal Martin in Dublin.
'I don't want to cause any problems, but I'd love to see it unified,' he said. 'It's going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now. I think it would be a fantastic thing.'
It came just days after Mr Burnham said a referendum on Northern Ireland leaving the UK was 'off the table'.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.