It’s time to stand up for ourselves. With targeted action and tariffs, we can help push back the bully in chief
Ed Davey is leader of the Liberal Democrats
onald Trump is behaving like an international gangster. His threats to Greenland this week have crossed a line, blackmailing America’s closest allies and threatening the future of Nato itself. From leaking messages with other world leaders to whining about the Nobel peace prize, the US president has gone from unstable to seemingly unhinged. And our government needs to wake up.
For months, Keir Starmer has pursued a strategy of quiet appeasement. He told us that by avoiding confrontation the UK could carve out a special status that would shield our industries from the coming storm. Only a few months ago, Trump hailed the “special relationship” at Windsor Castle after being lavished with a state banquet. Now, thanks to his actions, it is nearly in tatters. Starmer’s Mr Nice Guy diplomacy has failed.
There is no doubt that a trade war that hits jobs and living standards on both sides of the Atlantic is in nobody’s interest. So how do we stop Trump’s damaging actions and protect British businesses and livelihoods? The answer is not, as Starmer seems to suggest, to simply take his threat of tariffs lying down. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has suggested the EU use its “trade bazooka” and draw up punitive trade measures to hit back at Trump unless he drops his threatened tariffs. Britain needs its own trade bazooka: to stand up to the US president along with our European allies and force him to back down.
