Last May, David Lammy visited Washington and realized that Donald Trump was likely to win the presidential election. The soon-to-be foreign secretary has held meetings with both Democratic and Republican campaigns — and found himself admiring the latter.

The tact and professionalism of Trump's 2024 campaign and its pointed messaging have made gains among black and Hispanic voters, seemingly a far cry from his chaotic 2016 campaign. By comparison, Joe Biden appears to be lagging behind, focused on attacking Trump’s record while lacking a convincing narrative of his own.

Eight months have passed and we are still days away from Trump's second inauguration as president following his resounding victory. Government figures hoped the groundwork Keir Starmer and Lamy had laid with Trump - including their two-hour dinner in New York in September - had paid dividends for them, but after Trump took office on Monday they Will wait and see.

They knew there was one thing that would appeal to Trump: the royal family.

In December last year, after learning that Trump would attend the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame in Paris, Prince William scrambled to attend the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame in Paris at the last minute. According to a British source, the prince met with the president-elect at the British Embassy for 40 minutes, long enough to annoy the French.

“Probably one of the most influential people, in my opinion, is King Charles,” said a former senior diplomat who spent a lot of time with Trump. "Someone has to deal with the relationship with Trump - I know he really loves the Queen - and he has said he likes Charles."

Another senior diplomat said: "If you talk to anyone who was around the palace at that time ... you will find that no one was as respectful and polite as Trump was during his state visit."

Starmer is open to organizing a second state visit for Trump, where he could be invited to address parliament for the first time.

The grandeur and display of wealth offered by the royal family may appeal to Trump, but will do little to change his policy platform. Whitehall officials are playing out a range of scenarios, including the impact of punitive tariffs on the highly exposed British economy and changes in U.S. engagement with international bodies such as the United Nations and NATO.

One Labor insider said Monday would be "a watershed moment". "After that, a lot of things were put on hold."

The government's biggest concern is trade. Trump has vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. imports. Ministers hope that with Trump most concerned about the US trade deficit with the EU and China, the UK may be spared the worst of it - and hope that any tariffs will be scrapped in an earlier US-UK trade deal focused on Service and Technology Department. Sophia Gaston, a senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said ministers had viewed the bilateral trade relationship as a way to set a "positive tone for early engagement".

This is crucial after a series of setbacks in political relations. Since August, the tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk has launched an online retaliation against Starmer and repeatedly called for his government to be overthrown. In October, the Trump campaign filed a formal complaint against Labor officials who traveled to the United States to campaign for Kamala Harris, claiming there was election interference. This fall, several Trump allies criticized Britain's plan to cede control of the Chagos archipelago, which hosts British and American military bases, to Mauritius. Downing Street has been trying for weeks to quickly hammer out a deal before Trump takes office, but said on Wednesday it would wait for the new president to take office - a delay the government did not deny was at the request of Washington.

Crucial to achieving Britain's aims in Washington were two figures from the Blair era: Peter Mandelson and Jonathan Powell. Chagos handover. Both are experienced operators with established networks in Washington, D.C., but a senior Foreign Ministry source said they have so far struggled to get people there to answer their calls.

Labeled an "idiot" by one of Trump's key campaign aides, Mandelson has embarked on a charm offensive to win over skeptics of his dovish stance on Beijing and a client list at his consulting firm Global Legal Advisors Attitude Republican support. In a Fox News article on Friday, Mandelson praised Trump's "high skill as a political activist" and said the UK was "eager for more trade and more innovation with the United States," particularly in the technology sector. . He also said, "The Chinese government that I have watched closely over the past 20 years... now directly challenges Western governments and our values."

Robin Niblett, former director of Chatham House, said: 'The UK has been positioned quite shrewdly so far. Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni on immigration The UK is now in a much stronger position than Germany in terms of its relationship with Trump, but I wouldn't use the last three or four months to predict the next six months - on Ukraine, on tariffs. It's going to be much more difficult for Starmer to deal with it until we get past the fake war."

In particular, the government's desire to perform a balancing act among emerging powers such as the United States, the European Union and China will be tested. Simon Fraser, chairman of Chatham House, said: “Keir Starmer has said the UK does not have to choose between the US and the EU, but if a trade war breaks out between the EU and the US we will be faced with a choice. Trump will increase pressure on the government in areas such as defense spending and China policy, and make it more difficult to manage EU relations. Experts question whether the United States will seek to push forward the Ukraine issue if it asks the United Kingdom to impose tariffs on China. solution that does not secure the UK from further Russian encroachment, how will the UK government respond?

Laura Chappell, head of international policy at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: “If the government really wants to work hard to secure the UK’s national interests and try to be a progressive voice on the international stage, then they need to be very clear “What goals do they care about most?” The UK needs clearly defined and collectively agreed priorities to help it find solutions to the potentially unpredictable problems of Trump 2. "