Two reasons why Starmer’s meeting with Trump really matters
I’ve been on quite a few trips now to the White House with successive prime ministers, but I can’t remember one that mattered as much as this.
As Keir Starmer himself puts it, “everything has changed” and the prime minister finds himself negotiating with an old ally that is looking at the post-war world order afresh and doesn’t much like what it sees.
As Donald Trump appears to abandon the role the US took in the world during the Second World War and is now looking away from Europe and Ukraine, Starmer’s task is to try to win his attention, and support, once more.
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The prime minister’s two goals when he meets President Trump on Thursday are to help persuade him to put in place US security guarantees for Ukraine to deter Russian aggression post any peace deal, and dissuade President Trump from imposing tariffs on the UK.
That’s why, when it comes to UK security and economy – the two principal foundations of the Starmer administration – this meeting, this relationship, really matters.
It might be too much to say President Trump has the power to derail the Starmer project, but he does have in his gift the power to make Starmer’s twin task of guaranteeing British security and delivering economic growth far more challenging.
So the stakes are high for Britain and on the plane over to Washington that jeopardy was obvious to see.
When the prime minister came down to the back of the plane to answer questions from journalists travelling with him, he began the session with us by saying he had a lot of important things to discuss and was going to keep his answers short.
He then assiduously stuck to an agreed script, weighing each answer carefully as he swerved a number of questions on Ukraine and trade by saying he “wasn’t going to get ahead of discussions”, as he praised President Trump, referenced the special relationship as often as he could and insisted again the UK would not pick between the US and Europe.
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Can Starmer ‘win’ in Washington?
From the PM’s trip to Ukraine in January when he all but confirmed to Sky News that he was prepared to put British boots on the ground in a peacekeeping force, to his language around Europe stepping up at NATO in February, the European summit last week in Paris and then this week’s big commitment to accelerate the UK’s defence spending, the Number 10 team have been building up to this meeting, step by step.
But they are also all too aware that a positive outcome isn’t guaranteed when it comes to President Trump – and much will rest on what they find when Keir Starmer and Donald Trump meet in the room.
“We honestly don’t know what’s in his mind,” said one senior figure who has been war gaming the trip.
There were already bumps before the prime minister even landed. As Keir Starmer told reporters on the plane over that the security guarantees around any Ukraine peace deal “had to be sufficient to deter Putin from coming again” (and that requires a US military backstop in the minds of the Europeans), President Trump told reporters he was “not going to make security guarantees beyond very much”. “We’re gonna have Europe do that…Europe is their next door neighbour.”
Those remarks are perhaps not the ones the Number 10 team were hoping to hear, but they have a rule now to focus not on what Trump says, but what he actually does.
Much of what happens in the next 24 hours will be beyond the control of Sir Keir Starmer, but he has at least prepared the ground as best he can with a president who hates criticism, loves flattery and is very transactional.
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Starmer goes to Washington full of praise of President Trump – a leader he said on the plane over that he trusts – and a concrete pledge to put British troops into a peacekeeping force and lift UK defence spending, a key Trump ask of all NATO allies.
He has done the groundwork, now it comes down to the art of the deal.
Despite the ongoing market meltdown on US trade tariffs, executives at major cryptocurrency firms Messari and Sygnum are bullish on institutional Bitcoin adoption later in 2025.
Speaking on a panel at Paris Blockchain Week on April 8, Messari CEO Eric Turner and Sygnum Bank co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said they expect a significant shift in the banking sector’s involvement with crypto in the second half of the year.
According to the executives, the global banking push into Bitcoin (BTC) services has great potential to happen in the second half of 2025 as regulators embrace crypto, including stablecoins and crypto services by banks.
“I think we’re probably looking at a muted Q2, but I’m really excited for Q3 and Q4,” Messari’s Turner said during the panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, forecasting “really interesting” things coming to the crypto market in 2025.
Crypto adoption is not just about Trump
While some investors focus on the pro-crypto stance of US President Donald Trump, Turner emphasized that broader regulatory momentum is what matters most.
“When you look at the potential of having market structure regulation in the US, stablecoin regulation, and just the fact that across the board, not just President Trump himself, but the SEC and all these regulatory industries are really embracing crypto,” Turner said.
Paris Blockchain Week’s panel with Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, Bancor co-founder Eyal Hertzog, Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger, Messari CEO Eric Turner, AWS fintech leader Alex Matsuo and Near chief operating officer Chris Donovan. Source: Cointelegraph
Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said international banks with US branches are also poised to enter the market once the legal landscape becomes clearer:
“I think it’s a matter of fact that US banks are preparing to be able to offer crypto custody and at least crypto spot trading services anytime soon.”
“I think by then I would agree with you, Eric,” he continued, projecting a continued phase of market uncertainty until the US establishes a clear regulatory framework.
Related: Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B
Banks are no longer afraid of Bitcoin regulators
With the establishment of clear crypto rules for banks in the US, there will be a rush for crypto services by large international banks that are incorporated outside of the US but have a US-based presence, Eichenberger said.
“Some of them may have had their strategic plans in their cupboard to offer crypto-related services, but have been afraid that at some point they will be gone after by any of the US regulatory authorities,” he said, adding:
“Now I think there’s no one to be afraid of anymore in terms of regulatory authorities worldwide. So I think many of the large international banks will launch this year.”
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Global trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures may come to an end with a potential deal with China as investors remain concerned about escalation from both sides.
Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal import tariffs sent shockwaves through global equity and crypto markets. The measures include a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, effective April 5, with higher levies — such as a 34% tariff on Chinese imports — set to begin on April 9.
However, the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.
“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal,” Pal wrote in an April 8 X post, adding:
“That is the big prize and both China and the US understand it and need it. Everything else is negotiation posturing. China needs a weaker $ and the US needs tariffs.”
Source: Raoul Pal
“Also, the US is trying to shut down China tariff arbitrage using other channels such as Mexico or Vietnam,” Pal said.
Related: Bitcoin price can hit $250K in 2025 if Fed shifts to QE: Arthur Hayes
China retaliates with new tariffs
Considering China’s latest retaliatory measures, a resolution remains unlikely in the short term.
In response to US tariffs, China imposed a 34% tariff on all US imports effective April 10, media outlet Xinhua News reported on April 4. China’s foreign ministry also vowed to “fight till the end” against Trump’s tariffs, which it called “bullying” by the world’s largest economy.
China overtakes the US in global trade. Source: Econovis
China overtook the US in 2012 to become the world’s largest trading nation by the total value of exports and imports, surpassing $4 trillion in goods trade that year, according to The Guardian.
Crypto markets watch trade outcome closely
As the trade dispute continues to evolve, analysts say a potential agreement between the two global superpowers could serve as a key catalyst for recovery in digital asset markets.
Crypto markets have a 70% chance to bottom by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.
Related: Crypto market bottom likely by June despite tariff fears: Finance Redefined
Investor appetite for risk assets such as Bitcoin will depend on the global tariff responses from other countries, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen.
“We have reached somewhat of a local bottom in regard to tariffs and the impact on prices,” the analyst said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:
“Trump came out guns blazing, and we’ve mostly seen the worst from the US side, so we’ll see if other countries are willing to drop some of the tariffs because it’s very likely the US will do the same.”
Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29
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