David Cameron held talks with Donald Trump in Florida last night as part of a push to shore up US support for Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary met with the presidential candidate at his Mar-a-Lago resort ahead of a trip to Washington DC to appeal to Congress over a stalled package of aid.
In a statement yesterday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Ahead of his visit to Washington, the Foreign Secretary will meet former President Trump in Florida today.
“It is standard practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement.”
The duo are said to have discussed Ukraine, Gaza and the future of Nato
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The duo are said to have discussed Ukraine, Gaza and the future of Nato.
A UK Government official told the Telegraph that Cameron wanted Trump to "hear how much we’re putting into defence spending".They added that the meeting was "productive" and served to highlight the "breadth and strength" of the UK-US relationship.
The Foreign Secretary yesterday said: “Success for Ukraine and failure for Putin are vital for American and European security.
“This will show that borders matter, that aggression doesn’t pay and that countries like Ukraine are free to choose their own future.
“The alternative would only encourage Putin in further attempts to re-draw European borders by force and would be heard clearly in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.
“US support for Ukraine has massively degraded the military capacity of a common adversary, Russia has lost half of its pre-invasion land combat power, and a quarter of its original Black Sea fleet, while creating jobs at home and strengthening the Western alliance and Nato.”
The meeting comes despite Cameron previously dismissing Trump as "protectionist, xenophobic and misogynistic", and labelling his proposed Muslim travel ban as "divisive, stupid and wrong".
At the time, Trump said he was "not stupid … just the opposite" and warned that "it looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship.".
Cameron's visit to Washington will see him meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well as Congressional leaders, who he will urge to “change the narrative” on support for Kyiv while a multibillion-dollar aid package remains held up on Capitol Hill.
The meeting comes despite Cameron previously dismissing Trump as "protectionist, xenophobic and misogynistic", and labelling his proposed Muslim travel ban "divisive, stupid and wrong"
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He was expected to tell Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, to stop his colleagues from continuing to block the support amid opposition from hardliners aligned with Trump.
It is the latest of several interventions made by Lord Cameron over the additional funding for Ukraine. Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.
His previous comments drew the ire of right-wing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told him to “kiss my ass” and “worry about his own country”.