Sir Keir Starmer will enter the Oval Office on Thursday walking a delicate tightrope: the Prime Minister cannot be seen to simply bend the knee to Donald Trump, but nor can he afford to anger the leader of the world’s largest economy at a time when Britain’s economy is on the brink of recession.

British officials told The Telegraph this week their chief ambition from the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders is walking away “without any scars”.

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s trip to the US capital, he became the first European leader to increase defence spending in line with Mr Trump’s demands, boosting outlay to 2.5 per cent of GDP in 2027. It will surely play well with the president that funds for the uplift will be diverted from the aid budget.