Vance is a no-nonsense leader. He’s not afraid to stand up for himself or the country.
And Vice President Vance put the hammer down on this foreign leader right to their face.
The Oval Office turned into an unexpected stage for diplomatic friction on Thursday when Vice President JD Vance squared off with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. At the heart of the encounter was a growing unease over the United Kingdom’s stance on freedom of speech—a cornerstone, Vance argued, of the historic bond between the two nations.
The exchange followed Vance’s earlier remarks at the Munich Security Conference this month, where he stirred the pot by warning of what he sees as Europe’s drift from core principles it once shared with the United States.
“The threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values—values shared with the United States of America,” he had declared, setting the tone for his pointed critique.
On Thursday, with Starmer seated nearby, Vance didn’t back down when a reporter pressed him on those comments. “I said what I said, which is that we do have, of course, a special relationship with our friends in the UK and also with some of our European allies,” the 40-year-old vice president affirmed.
“But we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British, of course, what the British do in their own country is up to them,” he continued, “but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens. So that is something that we’ll talk about today at lunch.”
WOW! JD Vance CALLS OUT British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to his face:
“I said what I said. There have been infringements on Free Speech that actually affect not just the British people, but also American technology companies and American citizens.”
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/FfGoaAQkCg
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) February 27, 2025
Starmer, a member of the Labour Party who assumed office in July 2024, wasn’t about to let the jab go unanswered. Leaning into the UK’s long history, he countered, “We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom, and it will last for a very, very long time.”
The prime minister pushed back further, assuring Vance, “Certainly, we wouldn’t want to reach across [and affect] US citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely right. But in relation to free speech in the UK, I’m really proud of that—our history there.”
The tension traces back to Munich, where Vance had singled out cases like that of Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old British Army veteran and physiotherapist.
Smith-Connor was fined £9,000 ($11,346) for praying outside an abortion clinic, breaching a buffer zone—a penalty that would likely be unthinkable under America’s First Amendment.
“I wish I could say that this was a fluke—a one-off, crazy example of a badly written law being enacted against a single person,” Vance had mused at the conference. “In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”
He’d signaled ahead of Starmer’s White House visit that this issue would be on the table.
The meeting wasn’t all about speech, though. A brief skirmish flared when President Trump griped about European nations plotting to “get their money back” from Ukraine aid.
Starmer shot back, “We’re not getting all of ours. I mean, quite a bit of ours was gifted. There were some loans, but mainly, it was gifted, actually.” The remark highlighted another layer of transatlantic friction.
Starmer’s trip marks him as the second European heavyweight to visit the White House this week, following French President Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with Trump on Monday.
For all the talk of a “special relationship,” Thursday’s clash laid bare a slight rift — less about diplomacy, perhaps, and more about the values that once tied these allies tight.
But overall, it’s clear that Vance is correct in claiming that the UK and other European nations do not value free speech like the United States does.
Stay tuned to the Conservative Column.
