Minister: Trump led ‘fiery’ campaign, let’s ‘wait to see what he does’ on trade

Donald Trump said “a lot of fiery things” in his campaign for the White House, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said as he urged the public to “wait to see what he actually does” amid fears of a trade war.

Mr McFadden also defended comments made about Mr Trump by his Cabinet colleagues, as shadow chancellor Mel Stride reiterated the Tories’ call for the Government to apologise to the president-elect.

Sir Keir Starmer said it was “good to speak” with Mr Trump in a phone call on Wednesday evening in which the Prime Minister congratulated him on his “historic victory”.

Sir Keir wrote on X: “I look forward to working together.

“From defence and security to growth and prosperity, the relationship between the UK and US is incredibly strong and will continue to thrive for many years to come.”

Mr Trump has said he wants to increase tariffs on goods imported from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on items from China.

Asked about the impact a more isolationist US would have on the UK economy, Mr McFadden told Sky News: “I think you’ve got to understand that in an election, a lot of fiery things are said, and president-elect Trump says a lot of fiery things, and the important thing is what he actually does.

“We obviously have interests as a trading nation. We want to protect and look after our interests, and we always want to have a dialogue with the US administration about those.

“But for anyone speculating about what exactly will happen, I would advise let’s wait to see what he actually does, rather than take everything said in a campaign.”

Mr Stride said in the context of a potential trade war, it is important the Government makes sure the “mood music” is right with the new administration.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “At the end of the day, as a sovereign nation, the United States will take decisions on those kind of matters, but they will clearly make them in conjunction with discussions with other countries, including those within the European Union, for example, and ourselves.

“It’s important that in that context, we do whatever we can to make sure that those relationships, that the mood music, that the relationships with the administration are strong and positive.

“I do think it’s material the fact that this Government has ended up in a position where it is in a difficult position already with the Trump administration, based on the comments that have been made.”

He added that Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch “was quite right yesterday to call for those comments to be withdrawn and for an apology to be made”.

In the Commons on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch said Foreign Secretary David Lammy had previously referred to Mr Trump as a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves sought to play down the impact that Mr Lammy’s past criticism of Donald Trump would have on UK-US relations.

Ms Reeves pointed out that JD Vance had used “choice words” about Mr Trump himself but was still chosen as his running mate.

The Chancellor told reporters in Manchester: “Well, look, the vice president-elect of the United States has used some choice words about the president-elect in the past, but the point is those comments were in the past.

“The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met with President-elect Trump just a few weeks ago in New York for dinner.

“They had a really good meeting, a constructive meeting, and I have absolutely no doubt we will be able to work constructively with the new US administration under President-elect Donald Trump.”

Mr McFadden also said that living standards were “a big theme in the US election”, but Labour will not “lecture” other centre-left parties on their campaigns.

Asked if centre-left politics is under threat with a loss by the Democrats in the US and the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government in Germany, he told LBC: “I don’t want to give anybody any lectures.

“I know what it’s like to be on the losing end of an election, as the Democrats were the other night, and I know what it’s like to be on the winning end, and so what my focus is, rather than lecturing others, is remembering what we did to change the Labour Party.”

Mr Stride said “the lesson is about economics” when asked what British conservatism can learn from Mr Trump’s re-election.

Speaking on Today, he said: “That seems to have been, along with migration, one of the overriding factors here.

“Of course, what we’ve seen in our country is an extraordinary Budget that will take us several steps backwards in terms of bringing in very high levels of taxation, which were not spoken about by the Labour Party during the run-up to the general election.”

Sir Keir dodged a question about Mr Trump reportedly describing him as “very left-wing” in private conversations with high-ranking UK officials.

Asked about a Bloomberg report that the president-elect had repeatedly branded the Prime Minister “very left-wing”, Sir Keir said that his meeting with Mr Trump in New York several weeks ago and his phone call with him after the election result were “very positive, very constructive”.

The president-elect has long complained about US tax dollars funding European security and has been highly critical about Nato members not spending enough.

The Prime Minister on Thursday said that boosting defence spending to 2.5% “remains the commitment” of the Government, but did not set out a timeline to reach it.

“We are committed to the pathway to 2.5% because there’s nothing more important than the safety of our country, the national security of our country,” he said.