Trump ally and Mandelson laugh as Starmer references VE Day in US-UK trade deal announcement

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and Peter Mandelson laughed as Sir Keir Starmer celebrated a UK-US trade deal coinciding with Victory in Europe Day’s (VE Day) 80th anniversary on Thursday, 8 May.

Britain became the first country to reach such an agreement with the States since Mr Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs threw the global economy into crisis last month.

Sir Keir mentioned that the deal announcement coincided with VE Day, up to the exact hour that Sir Winston Churchill announced the end of the Second World War — prompting Mr Lutnick and the British ambassador to the United States to smile and laugh.