Prime minister assures colleagues he may one day stand up to Donald Trump – but not yet
Keir Starmer has got used to walking a diplomatic tightrope with Donald Trump. But the US president’s Venezuelan adventure, whisking its leader out of the country after a late-night raid, has pushed that cautious approach to its limits.
The clues were all there. Ever since Trump confirmed that he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela against drug traffickers – and blockaded oil tankers – the military campaign had been mounting.
But despite the US president’s threats to oust Nicolás Maduro, some on the UK side had put them in the same “unbelievable” category as Trump’s promise to bring peace to Ukraine on his first day in the White House, or plans to develop a “Gaza Riviera”.
When the dramatic raid did finally happen, with Trump saying the Venezuelan had been seized for “narco-terrorism”, the UK prime minister took 16 hours to respond publicly, and even then it was a masterclass in hedging his bets.
