UK's Starmer seeks strong trade relations with the US in the wake of Trump's tariffs

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that he would seek a strong trade relationship with the U.S. after President Donald Trump suggested he would slap Europe with tariffs after he hit America's biggest trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — with import taxes.

Starmer spoke to reporters while hosting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at his country estate on the eve of a mission to improve relations with the European Union.

“In the discussions that I have had with President Trump, that is what we have centered on, a strong trading relationship," he said. “So it is very early days.”

Canada and Mexico ordered retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump's announcement that the U.S. on Tuesday will stick a 25% levy on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% on goods from China. Trump said he “absolutely” plans to impose tariffs on the EU.

The U.K. left the EU in 2020, following a referendum in 2016. Trump, who supported the Leave side in the Brexit vote, has not yet said whether he plans to target the U.K with tariffs.

The tit-for-tat tariffs have triggered fears of a global trade war.

“Tariff increases really right across the world can have a really damaging impact on global growth and trade, so I don’t think it’s what anybody wants to see,” British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC.

Starmer is heading to Belgium to meet with EU chiefs Monday, where the U.K. leader is aiming for a relationship “reset”.

While ruling out rejoining the EU. trade bloc five years after Brexit, Starmer said he wants to forge a closer relationship on defense, energy and trade.

“I think that is certainly in the U.K.’s best interest, I do believe it’s in the E.U.’s best interest, and already I hope that in the last seven months there’s been a manifest difference in approach, tone and relationship,” he said.

Starmer hosted Scholz at Chequers, the prime minister's country residence in Buckinghamshire 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of London, where the two leaders discussed Ukraine and the Middle East, according to a Starmer spokesperson.

The prime minister spoke of their common approach to “key issues and challenges,” including their shared commitment to Kyiv as the war with Russia enters its fourth year this month.

The two agreed that Russia's invasion had emphasized the need to beef up and coordinate defense production across Ukraine, according to a readout of the meeting from a Starmer spokesperson. The U.K. and Germany signed a defense pact in October, described by officials as the first of its kind between two NATO member countries, to boost European security amid rising Russian aggression.

The British government's strategic defense review later this year will include lessons learned in Ukraine and the need to outmaneuver Russian President Vladimir Putin's hostile acts across the continent, Starmer said.

Starmer thanked Scholz for visiting in the middle of a difficult re-election campaign. Scholz's center-left Social Democrats are lagging in the polls behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union and the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, with three weeks to go before the Feb. 23 vote.

“When I started as prime minister seven months ago now, I was determined to strengthen the relationship between our two countries — already very good, but I thought it could be stronger on a number of fronts," said Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party. "And thanks to your leadership, I think we’ve made real progress.”

Scholz said the visit that included a walk around the grounds of the estate and a lunch was a "good sign of the very good relations between our two countries, and indeed between the two of us.”

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, welcomes Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, speaks with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz as they have a walk in the garden of the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, walks with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the garden of the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer waits for Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz to arrive at the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

Members of the media cover the meeting between Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, speaks with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz as they have a walk in the garden of the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The sun was shining outside President Donald Trump's West Palm Beach golf course on Saturday morning when Alan Mentser got a call letting him know that police were shutting down a road nearby. It was almost time to “show the boss a little love.”

Mentser, 65, and a group of hard-core supporters have spent years gathering at the same spot to welcome Trump when he comes to play golf, and they have the routine down. They monitor flight trackers to know when Air Force One arrives and traffic cameras to see if the presidential motorcade is on the move.

It’s an intense commitment of time and resources for a brief glimpse of their political hero. Mentser pointed to a gigantic banner showing Trump giving a thumbs up against an American flag backdrop. He said each one costs $300, and he has about eight of them.

But Mentser said it's worth it at a time when supporters view Trump as a man under siege from his enemies and fabricated controversies.

"It might give him 30 seconds of seeing, ‘there’s my people,’" he said. “But that 30 seconds matter.”

Now it was time to do it again. The cue was a siren as a police vehicle blocked the road in front of the golf club.

“Here we go!” Mentser said. When he glimpsed the motorcade in the distance, he announced, “attention on deck.”

A member of the group switched the soundtrack on a portable speaker from country music to “YMCA,” the Trump campaign anthem.

The convoy of black cars rolled down the street and turned into the golf club. Trump was wearing his typical red “Make America Great Again” hat and white polo shit, and he reached across his chest to wave to the crowd with his left hand.

“President Trump! We love you!” shouted Brady Collier, 31, who wore the same hat as the president.

It was over in less than 30 seconds.

A woman with white hair pulled up shortly afterward with her windows down and a dog in the passenger seat. She waved one middle finger at the golf club and another at Trump’s supporters. Someone called her a “baby killer” before she drove off.

The moment didn’t dampen Collier’s enthusiasm. Despite all the times that he's witnessed Trump's motorcade, he said “today was special.” This time, the limo seemed to roll slower and closer to the sidewalk, giving Collier a better glimpse of the president.

“There’s nothing cooler than that,” he said. “Other than Jesus Christ.”

Collier, 31, is from Indiana but spent the winter in Florida, where he’s doing landscaping and food deliveries. It’s also an opportunity to show his support for Trump as often as possible.

Jared Petry, 24, has been doing the same thing. He’s from Ohio and is one of the “Front Row Joes,” a group of superfans that traveled the country supporting Trump at campaign rallies. Petry was in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer when the president was fired upon in an assassination attempt.

“I heard popping. I didn’t know what was going on,” he said.

Petry was near the front of the audience, and he captured video of Trump, surrounded by Secret Service agents, lurching to his feet and pumping his fist in the air.

“I knew he was OK,” he said.

Now, Petry is outside the golf course every weekend.

“He never forgets his supporters," he said. “He waves at us.”

The group chatted about going to a nearby restaurant where Fox News host Sean Hannity is sometimes spotted, but something different happened this time. A group of staff members from the golf club came over to invite them in for a meal.

Mentser said that had never happened before. They ate freshly made omelets and blueberry muffins and walked out to the veranda, where they could see Trump playing one of the holes on his golf course.

The group refrained from trying to get Trump's attention, Mentser said.

“You don’t want to have the president post on Truth Social that ‘I was lining up my putt and my supporters threw off my game,'” he joked.

The whole experience, Mentser said, was “tremendous.”

“It’s a small way for him to say thank you, I see you," he said.

President Donald Trump waves to supporters from his limousine as he arrives at Trump International Golf Club, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Jared Petry, a supporter of President Donald Trump, wears a number 47 Trump shirt as he joins other Trump supporters outside the Trump International Golf Club, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Brady Collier, a supporter of President Donald Trump, joins others gathered outside the Trump International Golf Club, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Alan Mentser, in foreground at left, from West Palm Beach, Fla., joins other supporters of President Donald Trump outside the Trump International Golf Club, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in West Palm Beach. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)