Health Secretary Wes Streeting says Labor is working hard to win over Donald Trump if he is re-elected.

Polls have opened in the USA for Americans to start voting in what will be a neck-and-neck race between Kamala Harris and Mr. Trump for the US presidency.

Sir Keir Starmer will have difficult terrain to navigate if Mr Trump wins, partly due to harsh criticism of the Republican politician by current Cabinet ministers while Labor was in opposition and a row over Labor volunteers traveling to the US to support him. Harris campaign.

Prime Minister and Secretary of State are working hard to engage with President Trump and his team

The Health Secretary was asked about a post he made on social media in 2017 in which he called Mr Trump a “disgusting, sad, little man”.

“The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State are working hard to build relationships with President Trump and his team so that if he is elected the next president of the United States, we will begin with a strong working relationship. It is in both our national interest and the interests of the United States,” Good Morning replied. He told Brittany.

Mr Streeting added that Mr Trump “had a very good meeting with Keir Starmer recently” and that “of course we will all be aware of things he has said in the past”.

He said Secretary of State David Lammy, who has in the past called Mr Trump a “neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath”, had strong relationships with people around the former president, including vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.

The Health Secretary told LBC that although Labor and Mr Trump were “not bedfellows ideologically” if he were elected “there would be a really good working relationship”.

He pointed to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who attended a rally in the US on Monday night in support of Trump.

“(Mr Farage) thought overnight that whatever noise we were hearing, legal action would be taken, or you know the things we’ve said about President Trump in the past, we could work together effectively as partners. and as allies.”

Meanwhile, Mr Farage said he considered Joe Biden’s presidency a “disaster” and Ms Harris’ vice-presidency a “zero score”.

He told LBC the Democrat hopeful: “He’s a terrible candidate.”

While Harris’ campaign victory would be a positive outcome for Britain, Britain will face a “tougher task” under Trump’s second presidency, according to a US affairs expert.

The Republican candidate is likely to chart a new US course on major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where Sir Keir has largely followed US President Joe Biden’s lead.

Chatham House’s Dr. “Donald Trump will have a much tougher ask,” Leslie Vinjamuri told the PA news agency, claiming the Harris campaign would be a preferable partner for Sir Keir’s Government.

Director of the influential think tank’s USA and America program, Dr. Vinjamuri added: “I don’t think he[Mr

Trump will likely force European NATO members to allocate 3 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) to defense, he told PA. public finance.

Republican candidate Mr Trump is also likely to push for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, upending commitments from European leaders, including Sir Keir, to Volodymyr Zelensky’s war effort.

Dr Vinjamuri said Mr Trump would also want to “play a significant role” in transforming the Middle East, taking a strong pro-Israel stance that could clash with Sir Keir’s pro-Gaza political base as well as the UK’s declaration to that effect . The preferred outcome of the conflict is a two-state solution.

“The bottom line is, if there is a Trump administration, there will be demand to spend more and to get in line on the security front,” Dr Vinjamuri said.

The expert said Harris’ presidency would be more likely to value the long-standing UK-US relationship as “trusted allies”, but added there was no guarantee Biden would be a figure of continuity due to a “transitional” period of conflict. worldwide turmoil.

Sir Keir has drawn the ire of some Republicans in recent weeks. The Trump-Vance team has filed a formal complaint with US federal election officials following reports that Labor Party officials met with and volunteered for the Harris campaign.

The prime minister insisted this was no different from similar cooperation in previous elections and sought to connect with both candidates by meeting Mr Trump in New York in September.

If Mr Trump wins, Dr Vinjamuri said, efforts to repair the relationship would be unlikely to be supported by a royal charm offensive.

“Trump had a deep love and deep feelings for Her Majesty the Queen, and that was actually very important. “It has helped US-UK relations a lot,” he said.

He added: “There’s no sense that this is going on or being passed on to the King, which is not to say that Donald Trump has any antipathy, but there’s also no sense of the deep admiration that he so clearly has for the Queen.” . And so you take away this thing that’s really important to Donald Trump, which is kind of taming him, and I think that’s a very different proposition.

Both Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris have made their final campaign push with American voters in swing states such as Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, where the race is expected to be close.

According to the US voting system, a total of 270 votes are needed in what is known as the electoral college to win the presidential election.

Ms Harris is narrowly ahead of Mr Trump in YouGov’s latest forecast ahead of the US election; The pollster projects him with 240 delegate votes to Trump’s 218, with the other 80 votes remaining uncertain.

Key issues in the race to become the next US president include the security of the US’s southern border with Mexico, abortion rights and reducing inflation.