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Associated Press

Andy Burnham once said he would refuse to meet Donald Trump.
Now Britain’s prime minister is about to hold his first meeting with the US president, with Ukraine, the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence and the soaring cost of conflict in the Middle East dominating his agenda.
In a sign of the stark decisions facing the neophyte prime minister who took office just two months ago, Burnham announced Monday that he would send a Royal Air Force plane to help Saudi Arabia repel attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The UK says the plane will refuel Saudi planes during “defensive” missions.
Burnham told reporters en route to New York, where he will meet Tuesday with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, that he is “acting to secure the interests of Britain and the wider region”.
He said Britain wants to see an end to the conflict in the region “as quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part”.
The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has reignited, with Houthis aiming missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, including one that targeted Riyadh on Saturday before being intercepted. The Houthis also declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, attacking Saudi-linked vessels and oil facilities inside the kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter.

Burnham is set to address the annual gathering of world leaders on Tuesday, setting out his vision of Britain’s place in an increasingly fractured and perilous world.
In his speech, he said he would set out his vision of the UK as an “honest broker” when it comes to balancing the risks and opportunities of AI, which he plans to make the focus of Britain’s presidency of the G20 group of nations in 2027.
“We have obviously the closest of relationships with the US. We have that deepening relationship with Europe. But also I’ve spoken to President Xi and we’ve maintained a strong dialogue with China,” he said. “So we are, I think, uniquely positioned to play a leadership role on AI and it’s very clear to me that the G20 presidency gives us that opportunity.”
Burnham’s only other foreign trip since taking office in July was to Kyiv, and he has said he will urge Trump to send interceptor missiles to bolster Ukraine’s air defences ahead of another winter of war.
The British government also wants to discuss ways to restore free movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, largely blocked since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February. The closure of the key route has sent oil prices spiking, complicating Burnham’s efforts to jump-start Britain’s sluggish economy and ease the cost of living.
Like many Labour Party politicians, Burnham was strongly critical of Trump in the past. In 2017, Burnham, as the mayor of Greater Manchester, said the president wouldn’t be welcome in the city. Two years later he said he would refuse to meet Trump if he visited.

On Monday he said he would seek “common ground” with Trump, adding that the two men had “found a connection” during two phone calls since Burnham replaced Keir Starmer at the helm of the centre-left governing party.
Trump has called Burnham “a nice guy”, but has also recently needled UK officials by expressing support for Irish unification and musing about the future of the Falkland Islands that are claimed by both Britain and Argentina.
Starmer went out of his way to flatter Trump, presenting him in the Oval Office in February 2025 with an invitation from King Charles for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK.
British officials felt Starmer’s approach was vindicated when the UK struck a trade deal with the Trump administration. But Trump soured on Starmer over his refusal to join the Iran war. The president also has repeatedly criticised the UK’s immigration and green-energy policies, urging the country to open more of the North Sea up to oil drilling.
Burnham is expected to announce a decision soon about whether to approve new oil and gas fields off Scotland.
UK officials also are braced for criticism of Britain’s ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and efforts to regulate big American technology firms.




Trump’s threats to seize Greenland alarmed the UK and other European allies earlier this year, and Burnham was among leaders expressing relief at the announcement of a deal between Greenland, Denmark and the US to bolster the American military presence there but keep the Arctic island under Danish control.
Trump has other, more high-profile, international meetings this week, including one at the White House with Xi.
Burnham’s trip comes as middle-sized powers, led most vocally by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, try to forge closer alliances in the face of Trump’s “America first” foreign policy. Burnham’s government wants Britain to be bolder on the world stage, and to restore some of the ties with Europe severed when the UK left the European Union in 2020.
At the UN, Burnham will host a meeting on reviving hopes of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, alongside Carney, French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.


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Britain

Burnham to meet Trump, make UN debut after offering UK support for Saudis

Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his wife Marie-France van Heel board a plane for the United States. Photo: Reuters

The UN General Assembly hall. Photo: Reuters

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AP

UK’s Burnham congratulates Trump and Danish PM on Greenland deal

A Danish Air Force EH101 Merlin helicopter comes in to land during Nato military exercise Arctic Shield 2026 in Narsarsuaq, Greenland. Photo: Ritzau Scanpix via AFP

Saudis scramble to solve ‘humiliating dilemma’ after US rejects Red Sea intervention

Firefighters inspect damage to a building caused by falling debris from a reported Houthi drone intercepted over Taif province, western Saudi Arabia, on Thursday. Photo: Saudi Press Agency / AP

Fighters affiliated with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government clash with Houthis in Al-Jawf province on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hold hands during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on November 18, 2025. Photo: Reuters

A man and his brother walk through a makeshift camp for people displaced by the fighting between Saudi-backed government forces and Houthis in Aden, Yemen, on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Saudis turn to Western, regional allies as missile defences run low

Houthi fighters pose atop what the group described as the wreckage of a downed Saudi F-15 fighter jet in Marib province, Yemen, in an image released on Wednesday. Photo: Ansar Allah Media Office via AP

People and pilgrims at the Grand Mosque Complex in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Fighters affiliated with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government engage in clashes with Houthi forces in Al-Jawf province on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

A tank advances during ongoing fighting between Houthi and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces in al-Kadha, west of Taiz in Yemen. Photo: AFP

New UK PM Burnham’s honeymoon ends as Trump, first budget loom large

Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham holds a pint of beer during a visit to the Hare Inn in Harlow, east of London with the Chancellor John Healy (centre) on July 23. Photo: AFP

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham (left) plays the guitar in the mobile recording studio of the military and artistic unit who perform on the front lines, during his first foreign trip to mark Ukrainian Independence Day. Photo: dpa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) and Prime Minister of Britain Andy Burnham shake hands as they attend their meeting at the Presidential office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. Photo: EPA

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British prime minister targets Middle East stability and AI governance on New York trip


British prime minister targets Middle East stability and AI governance on New York trip.


Burnham to meet Trump, make UN debut after offering UK support for Saudis

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}British prime minister targets Middle East stability and AI governance on New York trip

British prime minister targets Middle East stability and AI governance on New York trip