Vice President JD Vance said there is a “good chance” the United States could land a trade deal with the United Kingdom due to President Donald Trump’s deep “love” for the country.
During his first major interview with a European outlet since taking office as vice president, Vance told UnHerd that the Trump administration has been “working very hard” with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to negotiate a trade deal that is “fairer” to the U.S. Vance said the unique “reciprocal relationship” between the two countries makes it likely that a “great” deal will be reached in response to the 10% “Liberation Day” tariff Trump placed on the U.K. earlier this month.
“The president really loves the United Kingdom,” the vice president said in the interview, which was published Tuesday. “He loved the queen. He admires and loves the king. It is a very important relationship. And he’s a businessman and has a number of important business relationships in [Britain].”
“But I think it’s much deeper than that,” Vance continued. “There’s a real cultural affinity. And, of course, fundamentally, America is an Anglo country. I think there’s a good chance that, yes, we’ll come to a great agreement that’s in the best interest of both countries.”
Vance argued that the U.K. has historically fostered a business relationship with the U.S. that is “much more reciprocal” than the U.S.'s relationships with other allies, such as Germany. This has incentivized the Trump administration to prioritize building its relationship with the U.K.
"With the United Kingdom, we have a much more reciprocal relationship than we have with, say, Germany ... While we love the Germans, they are heavily dependent on exporting to the United States but are pretty tough on a lot of American businesses that would like to export into Germany," he said.
Sarah Jones, U.K. business and trade minister, praised Vance’s comments on Tuesday, telling BBC Breakfast that trade negotiations with the U.S. are ongoing.
"Nobody wants tariffs. No one wants a tariff war. We want to secure a deal with the US. We think that would be the best way to secure jobs and growth in our country," she said, adding that Great Britain is in a “good position.”
During the UnHerd interview, Vance addressed the stresses the tariffs have placed on global markets. Although conditions have since stabilized, the stock market plunged the day after Trump unveiled the “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, resulting in a $3.1 trillion loss in market value and sparking concerns that a global recession was coming.
Vance argued that the “jitters” were worth a long-term strategy of securing more balanced trade deals for the U.S.
“Any implementation of a new system is fundamentally going to make financial markets jittery,” he admitted, adding that Trump is still committed to the tariff strategy as "a long-term play."
"No plan is, you know, going to be implemented perfectly," Vance continued. "We're very cognizant of the fact that we live in a complicated world where nobody else's decisions are static. But the fundamental policy is to rebalance global trade, and I think the president has been very clear and persistent on that."
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Vance also attempted to reassure European allies that the U.S. was still their partner. His comments came after he criticized partners such as Great Britain and Germany for strict regulations regarding speech and for not “treating [ing] us like an ally when it comes to economics.”
“I love Europe. I love European people. I’ve said repeatedly that I think that you can’t separate American culture from European culture. We’re very much a product of philosophies, theologies, and, of course, the migration patterns that came out of Europe that launched the United States of America,” Vance said. “We very much see Europe as our ally. We just want it to be an alliance where Europeans are a little more independent, and our security and trade relationships are gonna reflect that."