Britain Faces a Dilemma: Cozy Up to Trump or Reconnect With Europe?

When Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain joined President Emmanuel Macron of France in Paris last week to celebrate Armistice Day — the first British leader to do so since Winston Churchill in 1944 — it was a striking illustration of his Labour government’s desire to reset relations with Europe.But despite the rich symbolism and the palpable warmth between two centrist leaders, the visit was overshadowed by Donald J.Trump’s victory in the American presidential election a week earlier.

With his history of antagonism toward the European Union, Mr.Trump’s return complicates Mr.

Starmer’s intention to “turn a corner on Brexit” and pursue what he called a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to rebuild ties with the rest of Europe.What could have been an economically profitable, if politically delicate, bridge-building exercise for Britain’s Labour government now threatens to become more of a binary choice between the E.U.and the United States.Closer British trade ties with Europe, warn diplomats and people in Mr.

Trump’s orbit, could come at the expense of relations with the incoming American president, who is a confirmed Brexiteer and cheered when his last British counterpart, Boris Johnson, picked fights with the E.U.“If the U.K.re-engages in these political and economic ties with the E.U., it makes it less likely that Trump will go for a free-trade agreement with the U.K,” said Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser to the Trump campaign.“You guys have to decide,” he said in an interview, addressing the British public.

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