U.K. foreign minister sidesteps questions on past Trump ‘racist’ comments ahead of meeting with Rubio

U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband did not respond to reporters’ questions about his past characterization of President Donald Trump as he prepared for talks in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to The Hill. The interaction took place ahead of the scheduled meeting, with questions focusing on statements Miliband made during Trump’s first presidential campaign cycle.

In 2016, after Trump’s election victory, Miliband had described Trump using multiple derogatory terms, calling him a “racist, misogynistic self-confessed groper,” The Hill reported. The remarks were previously used as part of a broader criticism of Trump’s conduct and rhetoric at the time, before Miliband later took a more general tone in subsequent comments about what he said Trump had changed in political standards.

The Hill also reported that Miliband later said Trump had “lowered the bar” for public discourse. When asked again in connection with his Washington meeting with Rubio, Miliband ignored the question about whether he still stood by the “racist” characterization and did not provide a direct answer to reporters, according to the report.

The meeting with Rubio is intended to cover U.S.-U.K. diplomacy, reflecting the routine high-level engagement between the two countries’ top foreign policy officials. The Hill framed the reporter questions as occurring in the context of Miliband’s return to the international spotlight around Trump, after earlier public statements during the 2016 period.

The exchange drew attention to how quickly diplomatic figures can be pulled back into prior political language when leaders shift into new roles. For the U.K., Miliband’s role as foreign secretary places him as a principal interlocutor in international negotiations, where direct engagement with the U.S. government is typically paired with careful management of public remarks.

The Hill report did not indicate any formal policy change tied to Miliband’s prior comments. It also did not describe any U.K. government correction or written clarification in response to the resurfacing of the earlier Trump criticisms during the Washington visit.

The next step in the sequence of events is the scheduled Miliband-Rubio meeting itself, during which the two countries are expected to discuss issues within their foreign policy agenda. Any substantive policy outcomes would be reflected in subsequent readouts or official releases following the talks.