While Barack Obama and Eminem were backing Kamala Harris in Detroit (see previous post), Donald Trump was in North Carolina.

There, Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman, said she was formally switching her party affiliation.

Gabbard said the decision was in part due to Trump's ability to "transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people, and the party of peace".

Gabbard became an Independent in 2022, after she was unable to secure the Democratic presidential nomination - but she has been vocally supporting Trump for some time, who added her to his transition team in August.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Let's head back to the campaign trail now - and last night, former president Barack Obama and Eminem shared a stage in Detroit, where the rapper endorsed Kamala Harris and urged people to vote.

Obama criticised Donald Trump's rhetoric on immigration, saying if you challenge Trump or JD Vance, they have one response: "This is there go to about everything - blame immigrants."

And Obama couldn't resist a musical tribute to Eminem, beginning (almost) to rap along to his smash hit "Lose Yourself"...

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Speaking to Labour people this morning, there’s a little bit of sheepishness about the public row with the Trump campaign – but a complete insistence that no-one has done anything wrong.

The party is not saying anything formally, but the private defence is that these are volunteers who were not paid, therefore their activities were in accordance with the rules of the Federal Election Commission, to whom the Trump campaign has complained.

Moreover, they insist that the party had no official role organising volunteers and that senior figures who visited for the Democratic convention in the summer were there principally as spectators and political tourists, rather than dispensing formal advice to the Democratic Party.

Be that as it may, it’s undeniable that this is seriously awkward for a Labour government which in exactly two weeks could well be placing congratulatory phone calls to a president-elect Trump.

The question is whether it is merely a passing awkwardness, or whether this dispute threatens the potential relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump.

In opposition and in government, Labour officials have invested significant energy in trying to forge links to the Trump campaign. Those are potentially now at risk.

Image source, Reuters

As we've reported, Donald Trump's campaign has filed a complaint to the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) accusing the UK's Labour Party of "blatant foreign interference" in the election.

The complaint cites media reports about meetings between Labour and the Harris campaign, as well as volunteering efforts by Labour activists in the US.

US law states foreign nationals can't be paid to take part in campaign activity.

The Trump campaign's complaint points to a LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, Labour's head of operations, in which she said nearly 100 current and former staff members would be going to the US.

The post said there were "10 spots available" for anyone who wanted to join them and that "we will sort your housing".

In a statement announcing the FEC complaint, the Trump campaign says "the far-left Labour Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric".

It adds: "When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America [a reference to the American War of Independence], it did not end well for them."

As a reminder, Labour Party leader - and UK prime minister - Keir Starmer says volunteers are heading to the US in their spare time.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

In the last few minutes, a UK government minister has insisted that the Labour Party did not fund or organise party officials going to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris.

Steve Reed, the environment secretary, told BBC Breakfast: "It's up to private citizens how they use their time and their money and it's not unusual for supporters of a party in one country to go and campaign for a sister party in another, it happens both ways round and across many many countries.

"But none of this was organised or funded by the Labour Party itself, these are individual people making their own choices as they are free to do."

He added: "The key point underneath this is that the government of this country, which is now a Labour government, will work closely with whoever the people of the United States elect as their president in November, because this country and the US have a longstanding special relationship and that will continue into the future."

Like Keir Starmer, Reed pointed to the prime minister having met Trump in New York last month.

"Our Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had meetings with both President Biden in the White House and Donald Trump. He was over there recently and had a very useful and respectful dinner with Mr Trump.

"That relationship between the US and the UK will continue whoever is elected president."

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media and ally of Donald Trump, says the accusation of the Labour Party interference is more of a "perception problem than a legal one".

He says the story is more important in the UK than in the US right now, but if the election is close it "could become a bigger issue".

Trump claims "foreigners" are supporting the Democrat candidate, Kamala Harris, over him, Ruddy tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

But Trump is "very fond" of Britain, Ruddy says, and adds: "The [UK and US] relationship will remain strong even if there might be some political turbulence."

People close to Trump's campaign went to Brazil to help Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, he adds - but says it was more "ad-hoc", without the Republican Party formally sending them.

The row between Donald Trump's team and the Labour Party was sparked by a LinkedIn post last week from Labour's head of operations, Sofia Patel.

In the now-deleted post, Patel said she has "10 spots available for anyone available to head to the battleground state of North Carolina - we will sort your housing."

She adds that "nearly 100" Labour Party staff, both current and former, will be heading to the US in the next few weeks.

Asked about the Trump campaign's complaint, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says: "The Labour Party has volunteers, [they] have gone over pretty much every election.

"They’re doing it in their spare time. They’re doing it as volunteers. They’re staying I think with other volunteers over there."

Richard Grenell - who has been mooted as a possible secretary of state if Donald Trump wins the election - has spoken to BBC Newsnight about the Trump-Labour row.

Grenell - who served as Trump's acting director of national intelligence in 2020 - says it amounts to an "open and shut case" of interference.

This is nothing new - but it doesn't bode well for Starmer-Trump tiespublished at 07:18 British Summer Time

07:18 BST

Sarah Smith
North America editor

Labour Party members helping out Democrats in an election is nothing new.

For decades they’ve been heading to America to both lend a hand and possibly pick up a few tips at the same time. Democrats often return the favour. There are also often contacts between the British Conservative Party and the US Republicans.

But now the Trump-Vance campaign is complaining that it amounts to "blatant election interference" to have volunteers from what they described as the "far left Labour Party" coming to campaign for Kamala Harris

There are strict laws about foreign nationals not being allowed to donate money or anything of value to American candidates.

The Trump-Vance campaign says in the complaint that volunteers coming to America creates a "reasonable inference that the Labour Party has made, and the Harris campaign has accepted, illegal foreign national contributions".

Controversy was created by a now deleted social media post that said any Labour Party volunteers would need to pay for their own flights and car hire but that “we will sort your housing”.

The BBC understands from Labour Party officials that accommodation is being arranged by volunteers campaigning for the Democrats, not being paid for by the party.

Even if Trump is wrong about whether the Labour Party is making illegal campaign contributions to the Harris-Walz campaign, it seems that if he is re-elected president this controversy will not make relations with Prime Minister Keir Starmer any easier.

Chris Mason
Political editor, travelling with Keir Starmer

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has sought to play down the significance of alleged interference by the Labour Party in the American presidential election.

Speaking to reporters while flying to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa in the south Pacific, the prime minister said: “The Labour Party has volunteers, [they] have gone over pretty much every election.

"They’re doing it in their spare time. They’re doing it as volunteers. They’re staying I think with other volunteers over there.”

Asked if the row risked jeopardising his relationship with Donald Trump, the prime minister said "no" – pointing to the dinner the two men had together at Trump Tower in New York last month.

"We established a good relationship. We’re grateful for him for making the time... for that dinner," Sir Keir said.

"We had a good, constructive discussion and, of course as prime minister of the United Kingdom I will work with whoever the American people return as their President in their elections, which are very close now."

Sir Keir has never met the Vice-President Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival.

But he has met President Biden several times since becoming prime minister in July.

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US election. It's just hit 07:15 in the UK, and 02:15 in Washington DC:

• The Trump campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the UK Labour Party, accusing it of "blatant foreign interference" in favour of the Harris-Walz campaign
• "When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America, it did not end well for them," the campaign says
• The Labour Party is sending volunteers to campaign for Kamala Harris - but Prime Minister Keir Starmer tries to play down the row, telling the BBC it has happened at previous elections