09 April 2024 , 07:05
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David Cameron held talks with Donald Trump in Florida despite calling his policies "divisive and stupid".
The Foreign Secretary met with the former US president, who is expected to be the Republican's presidential candidate in the US election, as part of his push to shore up US support for Ukraine in Washington DC. Lord Cameron is travelling to the US capital to appeal to lawmakers who have been stalling a package of aid for Ukraine for months.
The Foreign Office said it is "standard practice" for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their international trips. But there have been tensions between the two men before, with Lord Cameron calling Mr Trump's proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the US "divisive, stupid and wrong" when he was then Prime Minister.
Lord Cameron, who made the comments before Mr Trump was elected US President in 2016, said he would "unite us all against him" if he visited the UK. In his 2019 memoirs, he said Mr Trump's election win has been "depressing" and said the victory was due to his "protectionist, xenophobic, misogynistic interventions".
In a statement on Monday, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "Ahead of his visit to Washington, the Foreign Secretary will meet former President Trump in Florida today. It is standard practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement."
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On his visit to Washington, Lord Cameron will warn that success for Kyiv in defeating Russia is "vital for American and European security" as he urges lawmakers across the Atlantic to approve "urgent" further assistance for the country. Lord Cameron will push for Ukraine to be given the resources needed to "hold the line" and "go on the offensive" in 2025, the Foreign Office said.
He will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well as Congressional leaders, who he will urge to "change the narrative" on support for Kyiv while a multibillion-dollar aid package remains held up on Capitol Hill. He was expected to tell Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, to stop his colleagues from continuing to block the support amid opposition from hardliners aligned with Mr Trump .
It is the latest of several interventions made by Lord Cameron over the additional funding for Ukraine. Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show "the weakness displayed against Hitler" in the 1930s. His previous comments drew the ire of right-wing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told him to "kiss my ass" and "worry about his own country".
On his latest visit, Lord Cameron will hold talks with Mr Blinken and meet other key figures across Congress to call for them provide the extra 60 billion US dollars (more than £47.5 billion), the Foreign Office said. He will say that nothing can match the pace and scale of US support, which remains "the keystone in the arch" in the fight for democracy, the department said.
Talks will also focus on the Middle East, with the Foreign Secretary continuing to push for a "full, urgent and transparent" investigation into the deaths of of seven aid workers in Gaza. He will say that the deaths of World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers are "completely unacceptable" and "major changes" need to be made to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground.
It comes as Downing Street sought to insist the Government is "completely united" in its stance on Israel following the killings. Divisions appeared to have emerged over the weekend with Lord Cameron taking a more strident approach to criticism than some of his colleagues, including Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.