David Cameron reaches out to Trump, takes a risk on US trip

When British Foreign Secretary David Cameron visited Washington on Tuesday, he made all the usual stops, from the State Department to the Capitol. But it was his pilgrimage to Palm Beach, Fla., where he met former President Donald J. Trump for dinner Monday night at Mar-a-Lago, that garnered the most attention.

Mr Cameron is the first senior British government official to meet Mr Trump since he left the White House. His visit, apparently intended to cajole Mr. Trump into supporting additional U.S. military aid to Ukraine, demonstrates Mr. Trump's influence over a far-right faction of House Republicans who are delaying the vote.

It also highlights how the electoral calendar affects political dynamics on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr Cameron, a former prime minister, has become almost a shadow British leader abroad, replacing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is busy with the looming general election at home.

In traveling to meet Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mr Cameron was reaching out to a former and potentially future US president whose harsh views on Ukraine are seen as the biggest obstacle to prosecution essential American politics. aid to the Ukrainian army.

“We had a good meeting,” Mr. Cameron said of Mr. Trump, as he stood alongside Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken after their own session at the State Department on Tuesday. It was a private meeting.

Mr. Cameron said he and Mr. Trump had discussed Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza conflict and other geopolitical issues, but he declined to say whether he had made any progress in convincing Mr. Trump to provide additional aid to Ukraine. He said he delivered the same message he delivers to other U.S. leaders: The best thing we can do this year is keep the Ukrainians in this fight.

Mr Trump did not comment on the dinner, which was attended by the British ambassador to Washington, Karen Pierce. His campaign released a statement saying they discussed the need for NATO countries to meet their defense spending needs and end the mass killings in Ukraine. They also shared their mutual admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II.

So far, Mr Cameron's lobbying campaign in Washington has produced decidedly mixed results. While he said he was looking forward to meetings with Republicans in the House and Senate on Tuesday and Wednesday, he had not planned to meet with Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican who is the central figure in the scheduling a House vote on military aid to Ukraine.

The two men last met in December, when Mr. Cameron also met with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican from Georgia who adamantly opposes additional aid. Two months later, she attacked Mr. Cameron, saying he had accused Republicans of appeasing Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.

David Cameron must be worried about his own country, Ms Taylor Greene said, adding an epithet.

At his news conference with Mr. Blinken, Mr. Cameron acknowledged that he viewed his visits to the Capitol with great trepidation, noting that “it's not for foreign politicians to tell lawmakers in another country what to do.

Mr Cameron played down the Mar-a-Lago meeting, saying it was common for senior British and American officials to meet opposition candidates. As prime minister, he noted, he met Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during his fundraising trip to London. Mr Blinken met Labor Party leader Keir Starmer at a security conference in Munich.

Still, it's not usual to meet a former president in the Palm Beach area that served as his White House in winter and is still his political stronghold. Mr. Trump has used Mar-a-Lago for summit meetings with foreign leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping. More recently, it hosted a like-minded leader, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Among Republicans, a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago has sometimes been an exercise in political validation. Kevin McCarthy, the former Speaker of the House, visited three weeks after the attack on the Capitol in January 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to curry favor with Mr. Trump. Allies like Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor, and Kari Lake, the Arizona TV anchor turned politician, are regular visitors.

Diplomats in Britain said Mr Cameron's visit was risky, but characteristic of how he has approached his job from the start. On issues ranging from Ukraine to Israel's military campaign in Gaza, he has pushed the boundaries in his public statements. With Britain's Conservative government trailing Labor by double digits in polls and facing voters in the fall, some said Mr Cameron had little to lose.

Flattering Trump on his importance and importance in this issue is a smart move by Cameron, said Simon Fraser, former head of the British Foreign Office. Let's see if it lives up to its promises.

Mr Fraser predicted Mr Cameron's visit would receive a mixed reception in Britain: applauded by those who see it mainly through a foreign policy lens; criticized by those, he said, who can't stand Trump. But he said Mr Cameron's entry to Mr Trump spoke to his network of global contacts, a legacy of his time as prime minister.

He brings more scope, energy and impact to British foreign policy, Mr Fraser said.

Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the United States and Americas program at Chatham House, the British research institution, said: “It may not seem in good taste, but its astute and pragmatic policy of the kind for which the Britain in particular has been historically so good, and probably the kind that will work best with Trump.

There is much at stake in the US defense of Ukraine and the security of Europe, she added, and frankly, I think efforts to influence the United States could be wiser and more effective than the aspiration for a Trump-proof Europe.

Mr Cameron has had a checkered history with Mr Trump. In 2016, as prime minister, he condemned Mr. Trump's campaign proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Asked in Parliament whether Mr Trump should be banned from Britain, Mr Cameron hesitated but said: “His remarks are divisive, stupid and wrong, and I think if he came to visit our country, I think he would unite us all against him.

Even Mr. Cameron’s welcoming of Mr. Romney in 2012 had its rough patches. Mr. Romney, who hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, questioned whether London was ready to host the summer games, citing reports of security concerns.

We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, busiest and most vibrant cities in the world, Mr Cameron replied. Of course, it's easier if you have an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

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