Andy Burnham has declared that he trusts Donald Trump as he prepares for high-stakes discussions with the US President.
The Prime Minister has previously labelled Mr Trump’s political approach “poisonous” and argued that politicians who worked with him should feel “ashamed”.
However, in a significant change of tone, Mr Burnham said he now regarded the outspoken President as a trusted ally.
Speaking to journalists during his flight to New York on Monday evening, he said the UK’s special relationship with the US was “as strong as it’s ever been”. He added: “When you come into this job, you realise how deep this relationship is.”
Asked directly whether he trusted Mr Trump, the Prime Minister replied: “Yes, of course, you know, we trust, we trust our allies. Of course, we do.”
When pressed on whether that confidence extended to Mr Trump personally, he answered simply: “Yes.”
The conciliatory message came shortly before the Prime Minister’s first in-person meeting with Mr Trump.
The two leaders are due to meet for talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Andy Burnham addressed reporters in Downing Street on Monday before travelling to the US for the United Nations General Assembly, where he is due to hold talks with President Donald Trump
Mr Trump previously referred to the Prime Minister as “the mayor of some town” and said his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer was “no Winston Churchill”
Mr Burnham played down the pair’s previous exchanges, including Mr Trump’s description of him as “the mayor of some town”.
“Politicians say things throughout their careers, but now the important thing is to focus on the moment you are in,” he said. Recalling their first phone conversation, he added: “I did say to the President in our first phone call – I said, Mr President, Manchester isn’t ‘some town’. I said, this is Manchester. And so yes, the right thing to do is to have a laugh about it, isn’t it, and move beyond it.”
During the meeting, the Prime Minister will urge Mr Trump to remain committed to Britain and Europe as the world faces what he described as “dark clouds of global instability”.
He is expected to call on the US President to stand alongside Nato in response to increasing Russian provocation.
Mr Burnham will also press him to recognise the risks posed by artificial intelligence, just days after Mr Trump dismissed the issue as a “hoax”.
He is also scheduled to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as part of efforts to revive Labour’s troubled reset with the European Union.
Several contentious issues are expected to feature in the discussions, including Mr Trump’s opposition to Labour’s plan to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and his recent lack of clarity over US backing for British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
Mr Burnham said he would seek to convince Mr Trump to reconsider his public opposition to the controversial Chagos Islands agreement.
He said he had reassured his Mauritian counterpart during a phone call that Britain remained “determined to secure the long term operation of the base, which is crucial to our security and that of our allies”.
“The assurance I gave was I will work towards a resolution,” he said. “At the moment we don’t have that, but I gave an assurance that I would commit to working towards one.”
The PM’s official spokesman said he would use the trip to forge links with world leaders ‘to brighten a darkening global picture’.
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The PM will warn Mr Trump that safety concerns about AI cannot be ignored in the rush to harness huge potential benefits.
He is expected to ask Mr Trump to ensure that US-based tech firms submit their latest AI models for testing by the UK’s AI safety Institute.
And he will urge Mr Trump to co-operate with other world leaders in ensuring that AI does not become a threat to humanity.
Mr Burnham boarded a plane at Stansted airport on Monday with his wife, Marie-France van Heel, before flying to New York
Speaking ahead of his visit to the US, he said international cooperation was needed to make sure ‘rapidly changing technology is harnessed for good to make our countries safer and stronger’.
Mr Burnham is due to be accompanied by his wife Marie-France van Heel on his visit to New York.
He is due to hold face-to-face talks with President Trump at the UN before delivering a speech focused on the challenges and opportunities posed by AI in the evening.
The PM will also lobby President Trump to step up support for Ukraine at a time when Nato is braced for fresh provocations from Vladimir Putin.
He will also raise the continuing fallout from the war in the Middle East, which is pushing up energy prices across the world.
But sources said he plans to use the gathering of world leaders in New York to focus on encouraging cooperation on AI.
‘We are at our strongest when we work with our partners to tackle the most complex shared challenges we face, driven by our values,’ he said.
‘When the global financial crisis hit, the UK brought together the world’s leading economies. As we confront the opportunities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, we will show that same leadership, ensuring rapidly changing technology is harnessed for good to make our countries safer and stronger.’
Senior figures in the tech industry have issued a series of alarming warnings in recent weeks. The head of alignment at Anthropic said there was a 10 per cent chance that AI could ‘kill all humans’ within the next decade, leading the firm’s boss Dario Amodei to call for an agreement to slow the pace of technology.
President Trump dismissed warnings about the threat to life from AI as a ‘hoax’ designed to dent the lead of US firms in the race to produce super intelligence.
The PM said the warnings had ‘made me pause’.
He said he believed AI could be a ‘force for good’ but said the risks had to be guarded against.
He added: ‘I note the president has I think said himself we need to be careful as well as look at the benefits, but be careful. And we’ve got to find that point of balance here, not all of a sudden turn against and become… a doom-monger about AI. I think you have to be clear-eyed about the huge benefits it can bring as well as recognising where we do need to be careful.’
Officials believe the White House is also concerned about potential harms caused by the technology. At the weekend, Mr Trump announced the creation of a new ‘AI Force’ which would monitor the technology for ‘bad’ outcomes, which he said could be done ‘very easily’.
Britain and the US will today unveil a new ‘AI and Autonomy partnership’ aimed at using AI to help detect and counter potential threats to critical national infrastructure. The Ministry of Defence and the Pentagon will team up to accelerate the delivery of joint capabilities that ‘enhance deterrence and both countries’ technological edge’.
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