Trump says UK-US relations better under Burnham than Starmer

Trump says UK-US relations better under Burnham than Starmer US President Donald Trump said US relations with the UK were better under Prime Minister Andy Burnham than his predecessor, Keir Starmer, as the leaders met for the first time on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

“Right now, based on my relationship with your prime minister Andy, I think that we’re doing very well,” he said.

He added that he believed Burnham would reconsider a deal to return the Chagos Islands – which hosts the strategic Diego Garcia US-UK military base – to Mauritius.

“I don’t support it, I think it’s terrible,” Trump said of the agreement, after Burnham “underlined his commitment” to Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam to working with Mauritius and the US “on a way forward” on Monday.

Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham (L) shakes hands with US President Donald Trump during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York on 22 September 2026 (Toby Melville/WPA Pool/AFP)