Keir Starmer to visit Canada for security talks after Trump threats

The UK prime minister will meet his counterpart, Mark Carney on Saturday to discuss security and economic co-operation, after President Trump’s threats to annex Canada.

Sir Keir Starmer views Mark Carney as a potential key ally, not least because they are the G7’s only centre-left leaders. Picture: Getty

Sir Keir Starmer will go to Canada on Saturday to discuss security and economic co-operation with Mark Carney, the prime minister, after President Trump’s threats to its independence.

Carney tried to repair relations on a visit to the White House last month but last week Trump doubled tariffs on steel imports to 50 per cent, leading to Canadian warnings of “catastrophic” job losses, factory closures and disruption to supply chains. The UK has avoided a 50 per cent tariff after Trump and Starmer struck a deal.

Trump also warned Canada that it would have to pay $91.5 billion to be covered by his proposed Golden Dome missile defence system or “ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State”, he wrote on Truth Social.

King Charles addressed the Canadian parliament in Ottawa last month. Picture: AP

The EU has also considered forging closer ties with Canada, which is a NATO member and key donor to Ukraine. After the King’s speech to parliament in Ottawa last month, Carney told CBC that he wanted to join ReArm Europe, a plan for bolstering European defence, by July 1, to reduce Canada’s dependence on the US. “Seventy-five cents of every dollar of capital spending for defence goes to the United States,” Carney said. “That’s not smart.”

US President Donald Trump has made threats against Canada in an attempt to make it the ‘51st state’ — such as exclusion from his proposed Golden Done missile defence system. Picture: AFP

Last month Carney criticised Starmer’s decision to invite Trump for a state visit to Britain, saying it had angered Canadians at a time when the White House was putting them under extreme pressure. Trump has said he would be willing to wreck Canada’s economy to force it to become a US state.

Starmer is keen to hold talks with Carney. The pair are the only centre-left leaders in the G7 and Downing Street sees Carney as a key potential ally, so the talks are expected to go well beyond handling Trump.

No 10 declined to comment.

The Times