Four months ago, Andy Burnham was still presiding over Greater Manchester and, we can safely assume, Donald Trump didn’t have a clue who he was.
But yesterday afternoon, the two men sat beside each other in front of cameras at the UN headquarters in New York for their first joint press conference as leaders of their respective nations.
You could understand if Burnham was a little uneasy. It wouldn’t be hard for Trump to dismiss him as yet another British prime minister – the fourth he’s dealt with over his two terms – who might join the others in not sticking around for long.
It didn’t turn out that way. Burnham and Trump may not exactly have displayed the easy rapport of old friends, but that’s not what was needed.
In this pretty low-stakes meeting, a stark contrast to Sir Keir Starmer’s early encounter with the president in the Oval Office, the new PM simply had to demonstrate that there’s mutual respect.
That assurance came quickly, with Trump’s description of Burnham in his first answer: ‘I think he’s a natural business person.’
Two points later in the session stood out as potential moments of danger that, to the certain relief of No 10, passed without incident.
The first came after a question about immigration, the central plank of the platform that launched Donald Trump into the most powerful job on the planet.
When Burnham offered a defence of legal migration, saying people are ‘not against’ it and know the important role migrants play ‘in the NHS and in the care system’, the president could have interrupted – perhaps with some riff on the far-right Great Replacement Theory.
He didn’t. He let the PM finish his answer with a defence of his work tackling the small boats crisis, and then selected the next question.
Unexpectedly, he replied: ‘Well, I don’t know about the move.’
Then he turned to Burnham on his right and asked: ‘Do you know about the move?’
The PM confirmed he was aware of the move – which marked a major shift in the UK’s relations with Israel – and gently reminded his counterpart: ‘We did call you just to say why we’d taken that [decision].’
There was an interruption from Trump, but an entirely helpful one – as Burnham spoke about the UK’s condemnation of the Hamas attacks on October 7, he chipped in: ‘That is true, very strong condemnation.’
Perhaps Trump’s language about the Chagos Islands deal was less welcome, but equally it was unsurprising. He’s railed against it before, and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has now confirmed the deal will be re-examined.
Of course, the real part that mattered was the hour or so before the press conference, where the two men drilled into the issues away from the cameras.
According to an official readout, they covered topics from trade to the Falkland Islands to imprisoned Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai – though curiously not AI regulation, a subject where their views differ sharply.
All in all, though, Downing Street officials will likely chalk up the first in-person meeting as a win. It could have been a little less awkward, maybe, but it could have been a lot worse.
Even if Burnham may have left a little disappointed that he didn’t get complimented on his accent.
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