Trump talks, Burnham walks.
Andy Burnham is considered by many a ‘premiere without a mandate’, propelled into office by a Labour party ‘palace coup’ against failing PM Keir Starmer.
He inherited many problems from his predecessor, and voluntarily continued with many disastrous policies.
But there’s one thing that Burnham appears to want to do differently than Starmer: the former Manchester mayor seems unwilling to antagonize US President Donald J. Trump.
🚨 WATCH: Andy Burnham meets Donald Trump for the first time
Trump: “He had a great election win. That was a big one”
Burnham: “This relationship matters so much to us” pic.twitter.com/uUIK4Uifad
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) September 22, 2026
During his first meeting with Trump in NYC, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the novice Prime Minister was very careful in this regard.
While the public portion of the meeting was mostly positive, Trump did ‘humble’ the Prime Minister by sharply criticizing the so-called ‘Chagos Deal’, in which the UK agreed to return several islands to Mauritius – including Diego Garcia, which hosts a strategic UK-US airbase.
‘It is a terrible deal.’
President Donald Trump blasts the Chagos Islands deal, in his first meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham. pic.twitter.com/MxtJiJJVDI
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 22, 2026
Daily Mail reported:
“The President rounded on the ‘terrible and ridiculous’ handover of territory to Mauritius during his first face-to-face meeting with Andy Burnham last night.
The Prime Minister was forced to look on stony-faced as Mr. Trump warned nothing can put the future of the crucial Diego Garcia military base at risk.
Asked about Mr. Trump’s comments later, Mr. Burnham said he had ‘inherited the situation and we need a resolution’, adding: ‘It’s critical to safeguard the future of the base, and that matters to us for security reasons, but also clearly to the United States as well’.”
🚨 WATCH: Andy Burnham says he will review the Chagos Islands deal to find a “resolution” after Donald Trump called it “terrible” pic.twitter.com/8EcnL3JXL4
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) September 22, 2026
Even Defense Secretary Wes Streeting, one of the most far-left voices in Burnham’s cabinet, has by now admitted that ‘the Chagos Islands deal is not good enough’.
“We’re not going ahead without the Americans.”
Wes Streeting confirms the Chagos Islands deal is ‘on hold’. pic.twitter.com/skiSLRPtBI
— LBC (@LBC) September 23, 2026
The Telegraph reported:
“The Defense Secretary said Britain’s plans to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius had to be revised after Donald Trump declared that the deal was ‘terrible’.
Labour MPs and peers are urging Andy Burnham and Mr. Streeting to scrap the agreement entirely after the US president’s intervention.
Mr. Streeting told Sky News: ‘Objectively, in the absence of support from the Americans, is this deal good enough? No. It needs to have the support of the Americans’.”
It’s the Trump power in action.
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