Andy Burnham’s first public remarks after the US midterm elections highlighted a concern for Britain: whether Donald Trump’s domestic political setback will make him more confrontational abroad. Burnham noted that Trump had accepted the results, a response that the article says British leaders could not previously take for granted.
Burnham is still trying to establish a relationship with the president. Their contact so far has consisted of several phone calls and a face-to-face meeting at the United Nations in New York in September. The article describes Trump’s position as markedly different from when Keir Starmer was seeking to build ties with him: he is now a midterm president facing criticism over the effects of a foreign war he had pledged to avoid.
The British government has focused its public response on the cost of living. Burnham said that pressure on household costs could not be eased until conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine were resolved. Within government, the war involving Iran and its effects on energy prices are seen as a major contributor to rising costs.
Before the votes were counted, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband was asked whether a politically weakened Trump might become more belligerent internationally. He did not answer directly, instead pointing to the cost-of-living impact of the conflict and saying the government was seeking a diplomatic way out. Miliband said disruption in the Strait of Hormuz was affecting families, and that he had discussed the conflict with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a G20 meeting in Atlanta.
The central question for the UK and other countries is whether defeat at home will make Trump angrier abroad, or whether traditional US allies will feel more able to work with his domestic opponents to challenge and restrain him. The article says how those questions are answered could shape world affairs over the next couple of years.
Sources: BBC News UK.