AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
President Trump is currently on a five-day trip to Scotland. He's long professed his love for the U.K., but the feeling hasn't always been mutual. Protesters took to the streets of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, yesterday, making it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome. The president is expected to meet with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, tomorrow. So while tariffs will be on the agenda, we're wondering what else might be on the table in these talks. George Eaton is a senior editor of politics at the New Statesman magazine and joins us now from London. Good morning.
GEORGE EATON: Good morning.
RASCOE: So how's President Trump viewed in the U.K.?
EATON: Well, he's quite unpopular amongst the public. Even conservative voters have a negative opinion of him. He has a support base amongst Nigel Farage and Reform and some of their voters. But perceptions took a particularly negative downturn after his encounter with President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and the standoff there. That took already quite negative views into very unpopular territory.
RASCOE: Oh, OK. So you - and you're talking about when Zelenskyy and President Trump kind of got into it over funding in the Oval Office.
EATON: Exactly.
RASCOE: But the president's going to - will hold talks with Prime Minister Starmer tomorrow. How would you describe that relationship? - the relationship between Starmer and President Trump.
EATON: That relationship has gone better than some expected because, obviously, Keir Starmer's a center-left politician from a very different political tradition to Donald Trump. And there had been some anger amongst Republicans that you had labor aides who went to campaign for the Democrats during the presidential election. But I think it's gone well for two reasons. One is that Donald Trump is very sentimental about his connections to the U.K. through his Scottish mother. He has great admiration for the royal family, and Keir Starmer has appealed to all of this. He's given him a historic second state visit, which is planned for the autumn. And he's increased defense spending, and he's avoided picking fights. There were some who wanted him to take a more confrontational position with Donald Trump over tariffs or over the Middle East. And instead, he's walked the tightrope and has got more concessions on tariffs for the U.K. as a result.
RASCOE: With him walking that tightrope, try - you know, as you're saying, he's trying to get concessions for the U.K. What will the U.K. be hoping to get out of these talks?
EATON: Yeah. So I think there are several things. Keir Starmer would like to see tariffs on steel removed. That's still going on. Twenty-five percent tariffs hitting U.K. industry. So I think he will hope for movements on that. Gaza is a huge political problem for Starmer at home at the moment. Big pressure on - from labor MPs to recognize Palestinian statehood and certainly to achieve a ceasefire. So he will be pressing Donald Trump on a ceasefire. And then Ukraine, as well. I think the European countries would like to see the U.S. provide some kind of military backstop there.
RASCOE: Are there any major areas of disagreements between the two countries that could come up in the talks tomorrow?
EATON: Well, I think it's over Gaza, in particular, where Donald Trump is much closer to the Israeli position. The U.K. has imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers. It's opposed some arms sanctions. So I think there is a difference of opinion there. And then Keir Starmer's government is pro free-trade. So they're in a different place on tariffs. I think he recognizes Donald Trump's position, but it's just trying to carve out the best deal possible for the U.K.
But, look, I think Keir Starmer can't afford to be too choosy. I mean, the U.K. left the EU, of course. So there were center-left figures in the past who very much saw a close relationship with Europe as an alternative to the special relationship with the U.S. Well, once you've left the EU, you're going to be less powerful there. And the U.K. is improving in relations with China, but obviously, that's complicated by China's authoritarian government. So, you know, the U.K. has no choice, really, but to get on with President Trump because No. 10 views the military and security relationship, in particular, as pivotal.
RASCOE: That's George Eaton from the New Statesman magazine. Thank you so much for joining us.
EATON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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