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Keir Starmer opposes Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs over Greenland but is not considering taking retaliatory action – vote in our poll on whether the PM should be tougher

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Keir Starmer has given an emergency press conference facing down Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs to the UK and other countries.

Since Mr Trump returned to the White House, the Prime Minister has tried to stay on the good side of the erratic US President. But Mr Trump over the weekend threatening to slap 10% tariffs – and later hiking this to 25% – on countries including the UK for opposing his desired takeover of Greenland is a red line.

Mr Starmer has said the demand is “completely wrong” and called an urgent press conference on Monday morning to set out the UK’s position.

Speaking from No10, the PM admitted the UK and the US have “differences of opinion” over Greenland but said any solutions must come through “calm discussion”, not a trade war.

Despite his opposition, Mr Starmer still insisted the US remains a “close ally” and warned British families the security relationship between the two countries is vital to every single person in the UK.

The PM dismissed a question asking whether he’d been “too soft” with Mr Trump, saying: “I don’t agree with that assessment because taking the approach we’ve taken has yielded hundreds of billions of pounds of inward investment into the United Kingdom. That’s hugely important for our economy and for jobs and businesses.

“We are involved on a daily basis when it comes to, security, defence and intelligence sharing – daily, 24/7… The interaction on intelligence between the US and the UK, it’s the closest relationship of any two countries in the world. And that keeps us safe, in ways I can’t explain to you. But I can say very clearly, it keeps us safe and is vital to every single person who lives in this country.”

Elsewhere, Mr Starmer set himself apart from the EU, which is considering slapping retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Reports suggest the EU’s top diplomats discussed reviving a plan to levy tariffs on €93billion of US products. The original plan was ditched last year after the EU and the US struck a trade deal in the summer.

Asked whether the UK would consider retaliatory tariffs, the PM said: “A tariff war isn’t in anybody’s interests. And therefore what I want to do is to avoid a tariff war because it will be businesses, workers and families across the country, that will be hit by a trade war. Therefore, I will, do as I’ve set out, which is to engage, with our European allies, with President Trump.”

Donald Trump continues to be a difficult issue for Keir Starmer – but what do you think about his stance? Vote in our poll HERE to have your say.