“When he began his campaign only four countries were spending their 2 percent of GDP,” the shadow foreign secretary said. “The number was 10 by the time he left office. And it is 18 today.”
In a message to worried diplomats, Lammy said: “I tell my European friends: don’t personalize this. “Do more is the American ask, whoever wins.”
Offensive Charm
Lammy is in Washington for two days of meetings with senior Democrats, as well as Trump allies including JD Vance, Elbridge Colby and Fred Fleitz. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is also on his list, as Lammy seeks to forge closer ties with the GOP in case the center-left Labor Party defeats the Tories and the former president makes it back to the White House.
Lammy — who has already been winning praise from some Trump allies — is also expecting to meet US President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
His latest comments on Trump mark a decided break from a flurry of attacks on the top Republican in the past. In 2017 Lammy wrote on Twitter that Trump is “a racist KKK and Nazi sympathizer” and vowed to oppose a visit to the UK by the then-president.
In 2018, Lammy said Trump’s “threats to NATO and the UN are no more logical than arson.” And in 2019 he called Trump a “misogynist” who seemed to represent a “horrible white supremacy.”
Sam Blewett contributed reporting.
