Donald Trump put his relationship with Sir Keir Starmer under strain last night after accusing the “far-left” Labor Party of “blatant foreign interference” in the US election.
Lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the Labor Party of making “illegal foreign campaign contributions” that were “accepted” by Kamala Harris’ campaign.
The comments come weeks after Trump and Sir Keir held a two-hour dinner in New York, after which the former president said the Prime Minister was “very popular”.
The Trump camp cited a now-deleted LinkedIn post by Sofia Patel, Labor’s chief operating officer, that said 100 current and former staffers were going to volunteer in battleground states like North Carolina and Nevada.
The rules on foreigners working on US elections are strict, stating that they must be volunteers and cannot receive any payment.
Donald Trump (pictured) put his relationship with Sir Keir Starmer under strain last night after accusing the “far-left” Labor Party of “blatant foreign interference” in the US election.
Campaign co-director Susie Wiles said that “the far-left Labor Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric.”
It also references a Washington Post report that suggested that “strategists linked to Britain’s Labor Party have been offering advice to Kamala Harris on how to win back disaffected voters and run a winning campaign from the center-left.”
The complaint also mentions reports that Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, Downing Street’s communications director, met with Harris’ team at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago over the summer.
Trump recalled the US Declaration of Independence from British rule in 1776 and said the UK seemed to have “forgotten” that the US wanted to be free.
Labor’s aid could amount to an “illegal foreign contribution,” wrote Gary Lawkowski, deputy general counsel for the Trump campaign.
That would especially be the case if “foreign nationals” were “exercising direction” over Labor staff, as may well be the case, the document states.
Campaign co-chair Susie Wiles said in a statement that Americans will “once again reject the big government oppression we rejected in 1776,” another nod to America’s rejection of British rule.
He said: “The Harris campaign’s acceptance and use of this illegal foreign aid is just another feeble attempt in a long line of anti-American election interference.”
In comments likely to embarrass Sir Keir, Ms Wiles added that “the far-left Labor Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric”.
The complaint also references a Washington Post report that suggested “strategists linked to Britain’s Labor Party have been offering advice to Kamala Harris (pictured) on how to win back disaffected voters and run a winning campaign from the center.” left”.
She wrote: “In recent weeks, they have recruited and sent party members to campaign for Kamala in critical battleground states, attempting to influence our elections.”
Richard Grenell, former acting director of US National Intelligence and former ambassador to Germany during the Trump administration, told Newsnight last night: “We don’t want to have any foreign interference in our elections… so I think this is a pretty open debate and closed”. Case: don’t interfere in American elections and you won’t be sued.”
Trump himself has faced accusations of illegal foreign interference in his own campaigns.
In 2016, his critics said he had colluded with Russia to win the election, but the investigation into the matter did not lead to any criminal charges.
A recent book by legendary American journalist Bob Woodward claimed that Trump had met Vladimir Putin at least 16 times since he left office in 2021.
Elon Musk, the Tesla and X billionaire who endorsed Trump, said: “This is illegal.”
There is no evidence that Labor made financial contributions to the Democratic campaign.
Downing Street, Mr Doyle and the Labor Party have been contacted for comment.
A Labor official told Politico: “It says a lot about the current level of political discourse on both sides of the Atlantic that an innocuous LinkedIn post by a party staffer has become a diplomatic event.”