Donald Trump is behaving like an international gangster. His threats to Greenland this week have crossed a line, blackmailing America’s closest allies and threatening the future of Nato itself. From leaking messages with other world leaders to whining about the Nobel peace prize, the US president has gone from unstable to seemingly unhinged. And our government needs to wake up.
For months, Keir Starmer has pursued a strategy of quiet appeasement. He told us that by avoiding confrontation the UK could carve out a special status that would shield our industries from the coming storm. Only a few months ago, Trump hailed the “special relationship” at Windsor Castle after being lavished with a state banquet. Now, thanks to his actions, it is nearly in tatters. Starmer’s Mr Nice Guy diplomacy has failed.
There is no doubt that a trade war that hits jobs and living standards on both sides of the Atlantic is in nobody’s interest. So how do we stop Trump’s damaging actions and protect British businesses and livelihoods? The answer is not, as Starmer seems to suggest, to simply take his threat of tariffs lying down. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has suggested the EU use its “trade bazooka” and draw up punitive trade measures to hit back at Trump unless he drops his threatened tariffs. Britain needs its own trade bazooka: to stand up to the US president along with our European allies and force him to back down.
Bullies like Trump only respond to strength. As we saw with the US’s aborted trade war with China last year, Trump doesn’t listen to diplomatic niceties – but he does take note of warning signs from Wall Street. He will step back from the breach if the consequences of US trade aggression on the world stage are a hit to the economy and tumbling stock markets at home.
With the US midterms looming in November, Trump’s greatest vulnerability is the price tag of his own policies. Recent polling shows 75% of Americans are already feeling the pinch of his “America first” taxes. By coordinating with the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc, we have the power to force Trump to sit up and listen.
There are other ways that the UK can draw up targeted measures that hit Trump and his inner circle. For a start, the government should cancel the pharmaceuticals deal with the US that will see the NHS pay £3bn more in higher medicine costs. The Liberal Democrats have previously suggested Tesla tariffs, to hit Elon Musk where it hurts. Ministers could also strip US defence firms like Palantir, owned by key Trump supporter Peter Thiel, from future government contracts. We are dealing with the most reprehensible US president in history. The only way to make him back down is to hit him and his cronies where it hurts: in the pocket.
This is an incredibly grave moment for the UK, Europe and the world. We need to face up to the fact that for as long as Trump is in the White House, the special relationship is on ice. Starmer now faces a choice – to continue with his failed strategy of fawning over Trump, or stand up to him, like we would with any other bully. Bullies don’t stop when they are asked to: they stop when they are forced to.
Ed Davey is leader of the Liberal Democrats
