UK's Burnham to Meet Trump, Debut at UN09/22 06:28

   

   LONDON (AP) -- 
https://apnews.com/article/andy-burnham-profile-uk-prime-minister-d9b573820fc8ed
a4975d8c67d60b2a28 once said he would refuse to meet 
https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.

   Now Britain's prime minister is about to hold his first meeting with the 
U.S. president, with Ukraine, the risks and opportunities of artificial 
intelligence and the soaring cost of conflict in the Middle East dominating his 
agenda.

   In a sign of the stark decisions facing the neophyte prime minister who took 
office just two months ago, Burnham announced Monday that he would send a Royal 
Air Force plane to help Saudi Arabia repel attacks from Iran-backed Houthi 
rebels in Yemen. The U.K. says the plane will refuel Saudi planes during 
"defensive" missions.

   Burnham told reporters en route to New York, where he will meet Tuesday with 
Trump on the sidelines of the 
https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations-general-assembly, that he is "acting to 
secure the interests of Britain and the wider region."

   He said Britain wants to see an end to the conflict in the region "as 
quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part."

   The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed government has 
reignited, with Houthis aiming missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, 
including one that targeted Riyadh on Saturday before being intercepted. The 
Houthis also declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait 
and the Red Sea, attacking Saudi-linked vessels and oil facilities inside the 
kingdom, the world's top oil exporter.

   Burnham is set to address the annual 
https://apnews.com/article/unga-united-nations-general-assembly-shorthand-lingo-
bef4654c632dfe378ce61d674166ecf4 on Tuesday, setting out his vision of 
Britain's place in an increasingly fractured and perilous world.

   Burnham's only other foreign trip since taking office in July was 
https://apnews.com/article/uk-ukraine-missiles-scalp-defense-classified-range-52
630a94448a2d2aa830a733ae899c33, and he has said he will urge Trump to send 
interceptor missiles to bolster Ukraine's air defenses ahead of another winter 
of war.

   The British government also wants to discuss ways to restore free movement 
of ships through the https://apnews.com/hub/strait-of-hormuz, largely blocked 
since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran in February. The closure of 
the key route has sent oil prices spiking, complicating Burnham's efforts to 
jump-start Britain's sluggish economy and ease the cost of living.

   Burnham says he'll seek common ground 

   Like many Labour Party politicians, Burnham was strongly critical of Trump 
in the past. In 2017, Burnham, as the mayor of Greater Manchester, said the 
president wouldn't be welcome in the city. Two years later he said he would 
refuse to meet Trump if he visited.

   On Monday he said he would seek "common ground" with Trump, adding that the 
two men had "found a connection" during two phone calls since Burnham 
https://apnews.com/article/andy-burnham-uk-prime-minister-labour-starmer-a13602b
93d8f045f1cffd2bd05bf8e2b at the helm of the center-left governing party.

   Trump has called Burnham "a nice guy," but has also recently needled U.K. 
officials by expressing 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-ireland-golf-doonbeg-57e48996a3b30a210243b7d7ae
66930a and musing about the future of the 
https://apnews.com/article/argentina-president-donald-trump-javier-milei-falklan
d-islands-britain-e84d99c99cfb1cb1ad232be8e3ea6c8a that are claimed by both 
Britain and Argentina.

   Starmer went out of his way to flatter Trump, presenting him in the Oval 
Office in February 2025 with an invitation from 
https://apnews.com/hub/king-charles-iii for an unprecedented 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-uk-state-visit-starmer-chequers-bc9088873ab7fc4
81c7163d60fe4da98 to the U.K.

   British officials felt Starmer's approach was vindicated when the U.K. 
struck a 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-starmer-trade-deal-beef-g7-52bea5eb383a0b45d0d8
3e1982d277bf with the Trump administration. But Trump soured on Starmer over 
his refusal to join the Iran war. The president also has repeatedly criticized 
the U.K.'s immigration and green-energy policies, urging the country to open 
more of the 
https://apnews.com/article/uk-north-sea-oil-gas-drilling-82062b0105baf4cfd6f4504
4f904e0e9 up to oil drilling.

   Burnham is expected to announce a decision soon about whether to approve new 
oil and gas fields off Scotland.

   U.K. officials also are braced for criticism of Britain's 
https://apnews.com/article/uk-west-bank-israel-settlement-sanctions-b4d7354221bf
e0c48e4bfce7a3b7624b in the occupied West Bank and efforts to regulate big 
American technology firms.

   "Burnham has a bit of a tightrope to walk," said Olivia O'Sullivan, director 
of the U.K. in the World program at the Chatham House think tank.

   "He'll want to build rapport. He'll want to impress upon Trump and the U.S. 
administration the European line on Ukraine and the need for continued support 
to Ukraine. And he'll probably want to use the rest of his time at the U.N. 
General Assembly to highlight the U.K. government's ongoing concerns about 
Gaza" and Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

   "But he'll want to avoid that becoming a bone of contention with the U.S. 
government," she said.

   Middle powers look to build stronger alliances 

   Trump's threats to seize Greenland alarmed the U.K. and other European 
allies earlier this year, and Burnham was among leaders expressing relief at 
the announcement of 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-greenland-military-denmark-0eac9ad2196551525bcb
8c71e80c480e between Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. to bolster the American 
military presence there but keep the Arctic island under Danish control.

   Trump has other, more high-profile, international meetings this week, 
including one at the White House with https://apnews.com/hub/xi-jinping.

   Burnham's trip comes as middle-sized powers, led most vocally by 
https://apnews.com/article/canada-carney-barton-trump-europe-eu-tariffs-8e7ee0d2
af4167a4abdf012b48f3abc0, try to forge closer alliances in the face of Trump's 
"America first" foreign policy. Burnham's government wants Britain to be bolder 
on the world stage, and to restore some of the ties with Europe severed when 
the U.K. left the European Union in 2020.

   At the U.N., Burnham will host a meeting on reviving hopes of a two-state 
solution for Israel and the Palestinians, alongside Carney, French President 
Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and 
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

   In his speech, he said he would set out his vision of the U.K. as an "honest 
broker" when it comes to balancing the risks and opportunities of AI, which he 
plans to make the focus of Britain's presidency of the G20 group of nations in 
2027.

   "We have obviously the closest of relationships with the U.S. We have that 
deepening relationship with Europe. But also I've spoken to President Xi and 
we've maintained a strong dialogue with China," he said. "So we are, I think, 
uniquely positioned to play a leadership role on AI and it's very clear to me 
that the G20 presidency gives us that opportunity."