The shadow of Jeffrey Epstein looms over President Donald Trump’s high-stakes trip to the United Kingdom, as ties to the late convicted sex offender continue to damage political and business leaders around the world.
Ahead of Trump’s visit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired his ambassador to the United States over leaked email exchanges with Epstein, renewing questions about the financier’s alleged links to other powerful British people.
In recent weeks, Trump sued the Wall Street Journal after it published an article saying he sent Epstein a letter that included a drawing of a naked woman. House Democrats later released a copy of the drawing, which Trump maintains is fake.
The news all but ensured that Trump will again be confronted with questions about Epstein during his U.K. visit. Reminders of Epstein will be both literal and figurative for Trump in London, after a protest group known as “Everyone Hates Elon” raised thousands of pounds to plaster the city with one of the most well-known images of Trump and Epstein.
Trump had hoped for a more stately welcome featuring royal pageantry, as he got during a visit as president in 2019.
“He enjoyed the ceremony of it, the pomp and circumstance, and the regalia,” recalled Michael Martins, a former official who served during Trump’s first state visit. “There will be even more of an emphasis on that, because of what’s going on in both sides’ domestic politics.”
Both he and Starmer appeared to hope the visit would help distract from more nettlesome political troubles, such as the questions about Epstein. The subject, however, will almost certainly arise during a press conference scheduled for Thursday. During a trip to his properties in Scotland in late July, Trump was similarly hit by questions about the reason for their fallout, which he blamed on Epstein recruiting young women who worked at his Florida resort spa.
Starmer is also in a difficult spot. He had initially defended Ambassador Peter Mandelson before ousting him amid scrutiny from his own Labor Party. (Mandelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MSNBC.) Starmer is preparing to appoint a new deputy leader and set an agenda for next year, but his standing in the polls has declined while his conservative rivals are gaining momentum.
Thousands marched in a far-right “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London in recent days, protesting immigration into Britain and leading to injuries of some two dozen police officers. Nigel Farage, who leads Britain’s Reform U.K. party and a longtime ally of Trump, currently holds an edge over Starmer in polls.
That puts the prime minister in a diminished position to press Trump to support two key positions of his government against the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Starmer has signaled the possibility of recognizing Palestinian statehood as soon as this month, a prospect that Trump has previously rejected over concerns it would legitimize Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
Starmer has also led a push by European leaders to convince the U.S. to back security guarantees for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion. Trump has suggested he would support assurances for Ukraine’s long-term stability, but he’s been adamant that he wants Europe to bear the brunt of the costs associated with military assistance. Additionally, the prime minister is under pressure to land more favorable terms on trade after Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries, including on the key British exports of steel and aluminum.
“He’s having to walk this delicate tightrope where on the international stage, the U.S. and the U.K. have such a strong and deep partnership” and “he wants American support,” Martins said, but “if he’s seen as too close to Trump, that could expose him to some backlash there, that he’s going to have to live with politically.”
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Akayla Gardner is a White House correspondent for MS NOW.