𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Prime Minister has sent a message of solidarity to Donald Trump after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones revealed Sir Keir Starmer had a phone call with the US President this morning, April 26.

Appearing on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, he said: “These are remarkable scenes. The Prime Minister has, this morning, sent a message to the president of the United States in solidarity for the events that took place.” The Government minister also provided an update on the upcoming state visit to the US to be carried out by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

He said: “As you would imagine, with the visit of His Majesty the King this week, our teams are working closely to ensure that security arrangements are put appropriately in place.”

Asked if there are any extra concerns for the King’s safety during his upcoming state event, Mr Jones said: “As you would imagine, the Government and the Palace take the security of His Majesty very seriously, and there were already extensive discussions taking place, which will continue over the coming days.”

Appearing also on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, he said, asked if the incident meant there would be an escalation on what had already been planned: “There’ll be appropriate security in place in relation to the risk.”

Separately, Sir Keir said he was “shocked” by the incident overnight.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister said: “Any attack on democratic institutions or on the freedom of the press must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

“It is a huge relief that @POTUS, the First Lady and all those attending are safe.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the incident was “an attack on democracy”.