To Andy Burnham, his Cabinet is the elite inner circle who will help him remake Britain.
But in Washington, they are barely known outside a small group of analysts and political nerds. And more concerningly, those who are known are already in the White House’s bad books.
Burnham himself will be mostly unknown to the US President too, and faces a stark choice of how far he should placate a mercurial Donald Trump without humiliating himself.
The new Prime Minister held his first call with Trump yesterday, during which he invited the US President to Manchester for next year’s G20 summit.
Trump, who had been expected to be critical of “extremely liberal” Burnham, described the call as a “very good” talk, in what will be seen as a win for the new government.
“The Prime Minister has got a big job ahead of him, but he will be able to do it and, of course, the U.S.A. will be there to help!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We discussed many subjects, including the outstanding relationship we have had with the UK,” including “North Sea Oil, Trade, the Military Alliance, Demining of the Hormuz Strait, and many other topics”.
He added: “The call was interesting, and went very well. I wished Prime Minister Burnham, GOOD LUCK AND GODSPEED.”
Burnham must do everything he can to avoid a confrontation with Donald Trump, a Republican strategist warned (Photo: Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)‘Miliband is known for all the wrong reasons’
But when it comes to the new Cabinet, there are already hurdles to surmount.
Insiders said that Ed Miliband was the only figure with any name recognition in Trump’s inner circle but “for all the wrong reasons”, particularly opposing North Sea oil production.
As far as Washington is concerned, the two most important positions are Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer, which went to the former defence secretary John Healey in a shock move.
Andrew Hale, a fellow at the right-wing think-tank Advancing American Freedom, which has close ties to the Trump administration, said: “Ed Miliband is known in Washington for all the wrong reasons.
“Miliband is seen as an unreasonable Nut [Net] Zero extremist who blocked North Sea oil production but was happy for the UK to purchase Norway’s fossil fuels from the North Sea.”
The White House is already “deeply concerned” about Miliband’s appointment as Foreign Secretary, according to one newspaper report citing a senior Trump administration official who said Miliband would be a “point of friction” in the UK-US relationship because of his support for green energy.
Keith Naughton, a veteran Republican strategist, told The i Paper that Miliband, who was Labour leader from 2010 to 2015, “hasn’t been around in forever”.
He said: “He carries weight with the American foreign policy establishment that’s on the outs. Most of them have been sidelined by Trump and they are very much out of vogue.
“Miliband’s best asset is he’s highly experienced, he’s been around the block enough and might know how to deal with these thorny issues.”
However, the new Foreign Secretary faces another issue: he may get mixed up with his brother, David Miliband, a former cabinet minister under Tony Blair who now works in international development in New York.
Naughton said some people “might” confuse Miliband for his brother given their similar political careers.
As for Healey, the name “does not register on the radar screen of the Trump administration”, Hale said.
Naughton’s advice for Healey was to “get along with [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent and [Federal Reserve Chair] Kevin Warsh”, because it will be a “positive thing”.
Chancellor John Healey should build ties to the Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh (left) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (right), The i Paper has been told (Photo: Jose Luis Magana; Emma Da Silva/ AP)Only Trump matters in this White House
Others who may find themselves in Trump’s sights are the new Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting. The President and his own Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, mocked Britain’s Navy during the Iran War, sayings its aircraft carriers were “toys” because they were unable to deploy to the Middle East.
Meanwhile, a row over military spending in Britain is also expected to resurface as the US ramps up its criticism and threats against Nato allies that it says are paying too little towards their own defence.
Insiders have also previously told this newspaper that Trump will likely have to google who Streeting is.
Meanwhile, the new Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh will have to honour the Prime Minister’s pledge bring about a “change of emphasis” to North Sea oil and gas drilling, a sop to Trump about which he has already posted approvingly.
That, however, may not last long as Burnham has pledged to stick to Labour’s 2024 manifesto of not signing any new oil and gas contracts in the North Sea.
The i Paper understand that Fahnbulleh carries no weight in the White House.
In normal times, such anonymity from Cabinet officials might be a drawback. However, in Trump’s America, it probably does not make any difference.
Garret Martin, a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Policy and Global Security at American University said that due to the “verticality of Trump’s power” it means that “only Trump matters”.
“All of the other normal channels have been relegated in importance”, he said.
“That makes it hard to get messages to Trump world unless you can directly get to him or his inner circle.
“This is a case where there’s an extreme personalisation of politics. That’s the channel that will have an impact.”
Andy Burnham outside 10 Downing Street with his wife, Marie-France van Heel, after taking office (Photo: Isabel Infantes/Reuters)How Burnham needs to manage Trump
All of this adds to the pressure when Burnham does finally meet Trump. There is no date set yet for his first meeting with the US President but the G20 in December at the President’s golf course in Doral, Florida, seems likely.
What awaits Burnham there is a President who has a transactional view of a world made up of great powers like China, America and – in his view at least – Russia, with little room for Britain.
Fortunately, the Prime Minister can look to Sir Keir Starmer for what to do – and what to avoid at all costs.
In the beginning, it seemed that Sir Keir had cracked the Trump code and was in the President’s good books for months.
The former prime minister wowed Trump with a letter from King Charles during a visit to the White House in February last year that invited the President for a second state visit to the UK.
Sir Keir was said to be speaking with Trump on a weekly basis during 2025 and was seen as a bridge between Europe and the US.
Yet the war in Iran proved something of a turning point, after the prime minister initially refused to let the US use British bases for air strikes – provoking Trump’s wrath who described him as “not Winston Churchill”.
Their relationship never recovered and became so bad it was brutally mocked on the British version of Saturday Night Live. The show launches its second season in September – so watch out Burnham.
The biggest mistake Burnham could make would be a confrontation with Trump during a public meeting, said Naughton. The notorious Oval Office blow-up with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, last year was an exercise in what not to do.
“You can’t do that”, Naughton said. “You have to lobby him in private or use surrogates to speak with his people.
“Direct public confrontation is always completely toxic unless your intent is to do that.”
Martin warned Burnham that he should “assume impermanence in everything”.
“Just because you get along with him for a while and may seem to have some short-term wins like Starmer did with tariffs, it’s always subject to being renegotiated because that’s how Trump operates,” he said.
“Buying goodwill on one subject matter won’t buy you goodwill elsewhere. For Donald Trump, everything is short term.”
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