Trump Team Is “Very, Very Sceptical” Of UK Government, Says Labour Peer Invited To Inauguration
President Trump speaks at a ball after his inauguration, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington (Credit: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
3 min read
Lord Glasman, the only UK Labour Party figure to be invited to President Trump’s inauguration, has told PoliticsHome that the team around Trump is “very, very sceptical about the Labour government”.
“They want an alliance with the UK, à la Churchill or Thatcher,” Glasman said. “They are pro-worker, so they hate globalisation. A big part of MAGA square is working-class, and people like Steve Bannon and [JD] Vance are very engaged with that.
“They are looking for the government to be their partner, but they don't see any indication that they are.”
Labour peer Maurice Glasman is a founder of the Blue Labour movement, which combines a left-wing stance on the economy with conservative views on cultural issues.
In an exclusive interview with PoliticsHome, he said he received his invitation to the inauguration from the Republican National Committee. “It was an invitation from the Republican Party, really, in the name of transatlantic dialogue,” he said.
Asked why he had been singled out for an invitation, Glasman explained that JD Vance, now US Vice-President, had sent the peer his book Hillbilly Elegy eight years ago and said he admired Blue Labour.
“I had no idea who he was. So we had two or three email exchanges that were very polite and measured, discussing globalisation and the status of workers who would be best-placed to represent that,” Glasman said.
When he arrived in the US, Glasman said the Trump team were “extraordinarily friendly” to him. “They even presented me with a handmade pair of cowboy boots,” he added.
In attending the inauguration and Nigel Farage’s party overlooking the White House, Glasman confirmed that he met Vance, the Vice-President; Bannon, the former Trump strategist; and Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State. “They really opened the doors,” he said.
Glasman spent a significant amount of time with Farage in the US. “He is a Republican politician superstar over here. The queues were lined up, shaking his hand, offering him money, saying, ‘Any support you need, Nigel, we're with you.’”
The peer said: “Nigel, I've got to say, was extremely generous in introducing me to people. I just had a chat with him and said, ‘We're patriots, right? So, let's just represent our country as best we can.’ He did that. He wasn't partisan at all.“
Asked how No 10 has felt about his attendance, Glasman replied: “It’s too early to judge. I’m obviously trying to communicate with them as best I can.
“I’m not expecting them to do cartwheels when the Prime Minister wasn’t invited, the Foreign Secretary wasn’t. It's a difficult moment for them, and I'm just doing my best to represent Labour and the government in the way that I can.”
While there have been many comments on social media about the significance of Keir Starmer not being invited to the inauguration, no UK prime minister appears to have visited the United States at the time of any presidential inauguration since records of visits began.
It was notable, however, that Glasman as a Labour figure was invited. And in a break with tradition, Trump did invite selected world leaders to join him on his inauguration day.
The peer told PoliticsHome he had spent his visit “defending the Labour Party” by telling those around Trump: “You've mistaken us – we’re not a liberal party, we're the Labour Party.”
Glasman also said he is planning to start a show on GB News – “Blue Labour versus Reform” – which will see him debate with Farage on a weekly basis.
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