Donald Trump and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron discussed Ukraine, elections on both sides of the Atlantic and their shared admiration for Queen Elizabeth II during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Monday night, according to the Trump campaign.
European leaders are desperate to secure more aid for Ukrainian forces fighting Russian invaders and have identified Trump as key to quashing Republican support.
But at the same time, the British government is understood to be interested in building relations with the man who could be the next American president after being caught off guard by his victory in 2016.
They were joined at dinner by the British ambassador, Dame Karen Pierce.
A source said he was “warm” and “productive.”
Donald Trump and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron discussed Ukraine, the elections on both sides of the Atlantic and their shared admiration for Queen Elizabeth II during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Monday night, according to the Trump campaign.
The two dined at Trump’s home in Florida and at his political base, Mar-a-Lago.
“Among the topics discussed were the upcoming elections in the United States and the United Kingdom, political issues specific to Brexit, the need for NATO countries to meet their defense spending requirements, and ending the killings in Ukraine,” the Trump campaign said in a readout of the meeting.
“President Trump, Secretary Cameron and Ambassador Pierce also spoke of their mutual admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II.”
Trump is known to be a big admirer of the late queen and has frequently praised her.
But the dinner raised questions about the protocol of a British foreign secretary meeting with a former president before meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, DC.
British officials pre-empted any controversy by pointing journalists to previous examples when ministers met opposition leaders.
They noted that the leader of Britain’s opposition Labor Party, Sir Keir Starmer, met with Blinken in February.
“This meeting follows the usual practice of interaction between ministers and opposition candidates from partner countries,” a source said.
Cameron also rejected the question at Tuesday’s press conference after meeting with Blinken.
“This was entirely in line with precedent of government ministers meeting opposition politicians in the run-up to the election,” he said.
The couple spoke of their admiration for the late Queen, according to the Trump campaign’s readout.
‘I remember when I was prime minister and I met with Mitt Romney when he was a candidate. I remember Gordon Brown met Barack Obama when he was a candidate.
He offered no further details about what he said was a “private meeting.”
Officials are also keen to avoid a repeat of 2016, when the British government had to scramble to establish relations with the Trump administration after its surprise victory.
Diplomats used former Gov. Chris Christie as a point of communication, but he was ousted during a power struggle with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, before the new administration took power.
It meant that British officials ended up using Sebastian Gorka as their Trump interlocutor. He was born in Britain, but was only a marginal figure in the administration.
A key point when it comes to sending aid to Ukraine is Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. In February she mocked Cameron’s claim that not funding Ukraine was akin to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler in the run-up to World War II.
A local resident walks among the ruins of a house destroyed by the recent bombing, which Russian-installed local authorities called a Ukrainian military attack.
Insiders later admitted that they were simply not prepared for Trump’s election victory.
Cameron was due to meet with Blinken on Tuesday morning and was also expected to meet with lawmakers at the Capitol.
However, he is not expected to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a key figure in passing a bill to send more aid to Ukraine.
A British official said their diaries did not “line up.”
Cameron said he had not come to Washington to tell US lawmakers what to do.
‘I always do this with great fear. “It is not up to foreign politicians to tell another country’s legislators what to do,” he said.
“The thing is, I am so passionate about the importance of defending Ukraine against this aggression that I believe it is absolutely in the interest of American security for Putin to fail in his illegal invasion.”
Johnson will almost certainly face a leadership challenge if he introduces a bill amid opposition from Trump allies like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.