By Jake Ventham

As President-elect, Trump won the US election; most British people were in dismay, while few rejoiced. The current sitting government, which has members campaigning for the Democrats, would have been upset, to say the least. However, the real question is, how does Donald Trump’s victory impact the UK?

One of Trump’s main economic policies severely impacts the UK negatively; Trump has advocated for a major increase in tariffs. What this essentially is, is a tax on imports going into the US. To combat this, UK producers will increase the price of their goods for US consumers as a way to increase revenue so that their profits per unit of goods sold will remain the same. However, this increase in price will result in a decreased demand for UK-produced goods in the US, so UK producers will receive less revenue. This will result in lower exports for the UK, which will increase our current account deficit; furthermore, the lower overall profits for UK companies that sell to the US may mean a decrease in jobs in the UK. To offset the negative impact of tariffs, what is needed is a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries; this will increase free trade within the special relationship and may actually prove the increased tariffs to be a positive for the UK, as UK producers and US producers could have lower costs when selling in the US markets.

The special relationship may have been tarnished due to the faults of the activist Labour Party. The Labour Party, the party in government in the UK, hasn’t been inactive in acknowledging the flaws that President Trump presented, most notably with the Foreign Secretary David Lammy posting a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) calling Trump a KKK, neo-Nazi sympathizer. What can only be seen as an act of foolishness by David Lammy may prove disastrous for the special relationship, as it is unlikely Donald Trump will look favorably upon David Lammy when negotiating. Moreover, in another controversial act, the Labour Party had organized in North London for over 100 people to campaign for Kamala Harris and the Democrat Party, Trump’s main presidential opponent. This may further dissuade Trump from continuing with the special relationship. However, there has been some hope for Britain, with the Reform Party leader Nigel Farage striking up positive relations with the US President. Nigel Farage, an important, controversial UK politician, endorsed Trump in the 2024 election and appeared at Trump rallies. Perhaps this may benefit the UK, as Trump may choose to enact the special relationship by negotiating via Nigel Farage, who is a Member of Parliament.

Trumps foreign policy also impacts the UK. Whilst Trump has expressed his support for Ukraine and Israel, both UK allies, the strength of his support for both countries differs from that of the UK. In terms of Israel, Donald Trump has expressed support and is agreeable with Israeli President Netanyahu on the extent of his war efforts and bombings. Whilst the UK government supports Israel, they are calling for a ceasefire; with Trump in power in the USA (Israel’s largest ally), this will become unlikely to happen. In terms of Europe and Ukraine, Trump’s support isn’t as strong. He has argued multiple times that the US is overspending on NATO and that the Eastern European countries should spend more on defense to resist the threat of Russia. Trump also claimed that 24 hours after being elected he would install peace between Ukraine and Russia; however, this is unlikely to happen. Nonetheless, his policy regarding Ukraine is that he wants to reduce spending and help Ukraine and other European countries. This differs from the UK, as the UK is committing large-scale support for Ukraine, effectively giving the country all support other than men. This reduction in support that Trump is proposing may mean that the UK may have to hold more of the burden regarding the costs of the Russia-Ukraine war. However, the UK could also step back with Donald Trump and reduce spending themselves.

The Presidential election had major impacts on the UK in some positive ways and some negative ways; many may disagree on whether or not the impact is positive or negative for the UK. Whilst the UK government would have preferred the Democrats to win the election, we are going to have to deal with Labour’s antics and hopefully they won’t prove too influential in angering the upcoming US President.