Sir Keir must make the most of Trump's visit
Whatever the British may privately think of Donald Trump, we need his goodwill. The Prime Minister should make the most of the President's Scottish heritage and his fondness for all things Caledonian. Mr Trump's links to Scotland are rather closer than those of Mr Biden to Ireland.
On Monday Sir Keir Starmer will be meeting Mr Trump for talks and lunch at one of his golf clubs, Turnberry, and later accompanying him to the other presidential course at Menie. Sir Keir will be hoping to steer the conversation on to trade: he needs to persuade the President to strike a deal on steel and to exempt UK pharmaceuticals from a threatened 200 per cent tariff. The PM may also seek to discover first-hand whether Mr Trump really has turned against Vladimir Putin's Russia and will now stay the course with Ukraine.
These are legitimate matters for a British PM to raise with an American president. Mr Trump, however, is no ordinary Potus: he is quite likely to offer his opinion about issues here that have caught his attention, such as migration or free speech. He may also give Sir Keir a piece of his mind about Emmanuel Macron's gesture politics on Palestine, or indeed anything under the sun.
If something like this happens, the Prime Minister will just have to grin and bear it. Sir Keir must play a long game.
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