‘Tea with a side of flattery': what US papers say about Starmer's meeting with Trump
A quick scan of the UK newspaper front pages and you would be forgiven for thinking it was the diplomatic moment of the century, but a glance at the media on the other side of the Atlantic suggests Keir Starmer and Donald Trump's get-together barely made a splash.
Instead, much of the scant coverage portrayed the prime minister as a messenger, bringing an invite for something much more glamorous than a former lawyer from Oxted: the royal red carpet.
Here we take a quick look at how US media covered the meeting between the US president and UK prime minister.
The encounter did not make the print front page and by Friday morning GMT it had vanished from the front of the website. A search for the newspaper's coverage uncovered a brief article focused on Trump's comments on Vladimir Putin and Ukraine.
Trump's news channel of choice indirectly features the meeting on its online front page under the headline: 'Trump draws laughs with answer to question about calling Zelenskyy a dictator'. The article focused on a comment the US president made in the Oval Office when asked about the controversial slur, replying: 'I can't believe I said that.'
The meeting between the two leaders did not make the front page of the print edition, although Trump and his tariff moves did. Online, the newspaper covered the gathering on its front under the headline: 'Tea with a side of flattery: UK prime minister Keir Starmer visits Trump'.
'UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrived at the White House on Thursday bearing a special envelope for President Donald Trump − a letter from the British King Charles III inviting him to a second state visit,' the newspaper reported.
The summit of the two leaders did appear on the front page of the Washington Post's print edition – as a picture-caption story under the headline: 'Delicate diplomatic outreach on Ukraine'. 'In Washington, Starmer deployed a mixture of flattery, deference and even a royal invitation for a state visit,' it read.
While online, the coverage had dropped down the site to the 'War in Ukraine' section under the headline 'British prime minister uses flattery, royal invitation to push Trump on Ukraine'.
In the print edition, the WSJ covered the meeting albeit indirectly under the headline 'Trump softens his tone on Kyiv but won't give security pledge', with the story focusing on Trump's position on Ukraine expressed during Starmer's visit.
The event had dropped down the website under a headline again focusing on Ukraine, rather than the perceived history-making nature of the congregation. 'Trump sounds warmer tone on Ukraine but stops short of security guarantees', it stated.
Starmer does not feature on the CNN online front but the meeting does appear in a couple of articles, one focusing on Trump's response to questions about his branding of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a dictator, while the other on the royal invitation received by Trump to visit the UK for a second state visit.
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