David Cameron holds talks with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago surprise meeting

Lord Cameron has held face to face meetings with Donald Trump in Florida during his push for the US to back more funding for Ukraine.

The foreign secretary is visiting the former US president despite previously calling him “divisive, stupid and wrong”. It was the first meeting between a senior British minister and the former Republican president since he left office in 2021.

Lord Cameron is on a high profile visit to the US to press Congress to pass the blocked aid package for Ukraine and will also discuss Israel’s war in Gaza.

It is the latest of several interventions made by the foreign secretary over the additional funding for Ukraine. Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.

His previous comments drew the ire of right-wing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told him to “kiss my ass” and “worry about his own country”.

Lord Cameron flew on Monday night and met Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence. In a statement on Monday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Ahead of his visit to Washington, the Foreign Secretary will meet former President Trump in Florida today.

“It is standard practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement.”

During his visit, Lord Cameron is hoping for a breakthrough with Republican lawmakers in Congress who have been blocking a $60bn (over £47.5bn) military aid package for Ukraine amid its two-year-long war with Russia.

He will hold talks with US secretary of state Antony Blinken and key figures across Congress on Tuesday to call them to “change the narrative on Ukraine this year” and release the funding.

He will tell the American leaders that