Burnham to meet Trump during first UN General Assembly visit as prime minister

New York, United States. Prime Minister Andy Burnham will travel to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday in his first major global diplomatic engagement since taking office in July. He is expected to meet US President Donald Trump for the first time on Tuesday.

Diplomatic agenda

Burnham has said he will press British interests even where they differ from those of the Trump administration, marking a different approach from his predecessor, Keir Starmer, who sought to build ties with the US president.

A former mayor of Greater Manchester with limited foreign affairs experience, Burnham described himself in his first interview as prime minister as someone “who tries to work with people”. He became Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade in July.

The gathering of world leaders is expected to focus on Ukraine, the Middle East, climate action and artificial intelligence.

Ukraine support

Burnham is expected to reinforce his call, made in Kyiv last month, for increased air defence support for Ukraine as it faces Russian bombardment during the more than four-year war. His appeal included the delivery of US Patriot systems.

Expectations for Trump meeting

Kim Darroch, a former UK ambassador to Washington, said Trump would likely want the meeting with Burnham to go well after disputes with other leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“I think he’ll want this meeting to go well, but even so, there will be unpredictability attached to it,” Darroch told Sky News on Sunday.

Darroch said Burnham’s personality could help establish a rapport with Trump, who he said places greater importance on personal chemistry than ideological differences.

Burnham has held at least two calls with Trump since becoming prime minister on July 20. He described the conversations as warm and cordial, while his team said Trump did not object to Britain’s decision to block imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Burnham said at the time that the measure was intended to assert British values, adding: “It is more important than ever that Britain stands for something.”