Trump: UK Prime Minister faces a difficult balancing act

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among the first world leaders to congratulate "President-elect" Donald Trump.

In a post on social media, he said that the UK and US are the "closest of allies" and stand "shoulder to shoulder" to defend shared values of "freedom, democracy and enterprise".

It was an indication of the diplomatic efforts already underway to build a relationship with the returning president.

However, Donald Trump has proven before that when it comes to the so-called "Special Relationship", he's not afraid to test it.

Just two weeks ago the UK got an insight into what a Trump presidency might look like, when Donald Trump's campaign team accused the Labour government of meddling in the US election.

It followed a social media post by one Labour official about travelling to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris.

Many dismissed it as a trivial argument and pointed out that there is a long history of Labour and Conservative volunteering in US election campaigns.

However, according to one former senior British diplomat, while the complaint itself wasn't worth paying attention to it did reveal the "casual indifference" that Donald Trump's inner circle is willing to show a key ally.

The Trump campaign's complaint to the Federal Election Commission referred to the "far-left Labour Party".

Keir Starmer must now prepare to deal with a president who has proven before that he's not afraid to pick fights

Downing Street has been preparing for some time for a Republican win. Keir Starmer and Donald Trump had dinner together at Trump Tower last September.

The two-hour dinner was also attended by Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Keir Starmer spoke of their "good relationship" afterwards.

However, cosying up to Donald Trump can bring with it all sorts of challenges.

Mr Starmer risks isolating his own Labour supporters at home should he be seen to be getting too close to the returning president. Equally, history has proven that even those that try to build a rapport with Donald Trump can sometimes get burned.

Another senior diplomat points out that intense efforts were made by Theresa May's government to meet with Donald Trump when he was first elected President.

The British government secured a White House visit, making Mrs May one of the first foreign leaders to meet with him.

However, on several occasions, Donald Trump proved that he wasn't afraid to have public rows with Theresa May either.

In the lead-up to yesterday's election, it was the view in Whitehall that a Democratic victory would have been far more straightforward for the UK, bringing with it a more predictable foreign policy agenda.

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, key geo-political issues including the economy, security and climate may be dealt with very differently.

The UK is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and a committed NATO member. The US position on these issues is now not certain.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer now faces the difficult task of maintaining as a strong a relationship as possible with the new White House, while also trying to protect British interests in an increasingly unpredictable world.