Trump Administration Will 'Take Action' If UK Censors Americans
Image CreditBreccan F. Thies / The Federalist
THE WHITE HOUSE — The Trump administration promised to “take action” if Americans’ speech is censored by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s crackdown on free speech.
In response to a question from The Federalist about the United Kingdom’s suppression of free speech, Trump said it was a “very important” issue that his administration is talking to the U.K. government about.
Trump said that he spoke to Starmer about his censorship regime during their visit, and that Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had also brought up the concern.
Rubio said he has “real concern” with British conduct toward speech, particularly when it comes to censoring Americans.
“There’s real concern that American speech, which is online, could fall into the hands of the British or any country’s jurisdiction,” Rubio said. “What unites us with Europe … is these shared values, and one of them being free speech. And so, if Americans are threatened by it, we’re going to need to take action.”
During their meeting on Thursday, when confronted on the issue, Starmer said, “We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in, in the United Kingdom and it will last for a very, very long time. … In relation to free speech in the U.K., I’m very proud of our history there.”
Vance mentioned the issue of European censorship more broadly during a conference in Munich, Germany, earlier this month.
In response to the question on Friday, Vance said the administration spoke to Starmer “in detail” during a lunch meeting, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick followed up on the issue in private meetings.
“We believe Americans have the right to speak their mind — even if we in this room disagree with them — they have the right to speak their mind in the public square, which is often online these days,” Vance said. “We’re going to defend that right as it pertains to American companies and American citizens vigorously if we have to.”
“I do think that under the President’s leadership,” Vance continued, “we’re going to find common ground with our friends in the U.K. on this question, but it remains to be seen. The principle that will guide us is, we believe in free speech in this country and will fight for it for American citizens.”
As The Federalist reported, the U.K. has gone after its own citizens for peacefully praying outside abortion clinics, and Scottish citizens were informed that prayer inside their own homes could be criminalized.
On the basis of its “hate speech” laws, the U.K. government has arrested, tried, and found guilty many of its citizens, often for having mainstream points of view on things like abortion or immigration.
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.