U.K.’s Burnham heads to U.S. with pragmatism in mind for Trump meeting

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham (left) and his wife, Marie-France van Heel, board a plane for the United States, to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, at Stansted Airport, north of London on Monday. | AFP-JIJI

REUTERS

Sep 22, 2026

NEW YORK – British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will argue on Tuesday for Britain to play a leadership role on artificial intelligence, in a speech capping his first foray into global diplomacy when he hopes to showcase the connection he has with U.S. President Donald Trump.

On the way to New York on Monday for the United Nations General Assembly, Burnham was keen to underline the common ground he said he had found with Trump over AI, with both championing its benefits while weighing the risk of a technology many fear is developing unchecked.

Burnham, a former mayor of Greater Manchester in northwestern England with limited experience of foreign affairs, is expected to meet Trump for the first time on Tuesday, and has set out a different approach to his predecessor, Keir Starmer, who went out of his way to win over the U.S. leader.

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