The leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, has said that a future Labour government would “have to make it work” if Donald Trump wins the next US general election.
Despite the long list of lawsuits against him, the former US president is making a bid to return to the White House next year. If Trump succeeds, he could be in power at the same time as Starmer, who would be the first Labour prime minister in 13 years.
“I mean, I think one of the things about being a leader is you don’t get to choose the other leaders around the world,” Keir Starmer says on the BBC’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast.
Earlier in September, the Labour leader said to Politico’s Power Play podcast that a 2024 Trump victory would not be his “desired outcome”.
These remarks come at a time when ahead of the Republican Party presidential nomination, the Republican candidates attended the second Republican debate in late September. Donald Trump skipped out on the debate, even though he is far ahead of the seven candidates present in the race for the party’s nomination.
The candidates took Trump’s absence as an opportunity to attack his legitimacy. Robert DeSantis took a dig at Trump being ‘missing in action’: “He should be on this stage tonight. He owed it to you to defend his record”. The former Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, made attacking Trump the central feature of his campaign, branding him “Donald Duck”.
Although Trump is ahead in the polls, his campaign may be interrupted by the ongoing civil fraud trial and a number of trials set to take place next year.
In the current financial fraud case, Trump has already been found guilty by the New York supreme court justice of fraudulent reporting for 23 Trump Organisation properties and assets from 2011 to 2021. He and others within the Trump Organisation brokered deals, obtained favourable loans and bolstered the appearance of his net worth using false or misleading financial statements.
The trial will now determine how much Donald Trump will have to pay for the verdict. The stakes are high as if the prosecutors end up victorious, Trump and his company would have to pay $250m and be banned from doing business in New York, taking Trump Tower and the rest of his holdings, which helped garner his nationwide fame and reputation, away from his grasp.
Trump is also facing three criminal indictments with their trials set throughout 2024: two relating to his alleged election meddling and one for the hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels. Another trial set is for his involvement in the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Altogether, Trump is facing 91 felony charges, and has denied all of them.