Feb. 27 (UPI) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived at the White House for a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday.
The world leaders are expected to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, defense spending and Trump’s proposed tariffs, NBC News and The Hill reported.
Prior to his trip to Washington, D.C., Starmer announced the United Kingdom would increase its defense budget to better support NATO.
NATO’s 32-member states in 2014 pledged to provide an amount equal to at least 2% of their respective gross domestic product on defense by 2024, which only the United States, the United Kingdom and Greece were doing at the time.
The number of NATO member states meeting the 2% threshold increased to 23 of the 32 member states last year, but Trump has threatened to reduce U.S. support for NATO if other member states don’t do more to support the military alliance.
The defense-spending concerns have become especially important as Trump tries to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia to end the three-year war begun when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Starmer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 19 and affirmed his support for Zelensky after Trump referred to Zelensky as a dictator and suggested he was unpopular among Ukrainians.
Trump also has announced his intent to impose a 25% tariff on all goods imported from the European Union, of which the United Kingdom is not a member.
Trump also announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, which would affect the U.K. steel and aluminum producers.
U.K. steel producers annually export about 200,000 tonnes of steel to the United States valued at more than $416 million, according to UK Steel.
The U.K. steel producers can export up to 500,000 tonnes of steel duty-free to the United States each year, so a 25% tariff could raise the steel’s export costs.
U.K. aluminum producers annually export up to 21,600 tonnes of aluminum to the United States without paying duties but could be subject to a 25% tariff if the Trump administration imposes the tariffs as Trump has said he would do.
Thursday’s meeting between Trump and Starmer is occurring at the White House, during which Starmer presented Trump with an invitation for a second state visit made by King Charles.
Trump visited the United Kingdom in 2019 and told reporters on Thursday that he has accepted King Charles’ invitation.
