"In the early days of this government, ministers were walking around departments saying, 'we're not going to be like the previous administration, we've got your back'," he said.
"And yet here we are five months in with that Trumpian language that is getting used."
In his speech, Sir Keir set out six targets the government is aiming to meet before the next election, covering the economy, housebuilding, the NHS, policing, pre-school education and green energy.
As well as being designed to offer more clarity about the direction of his government, the speech had a secondary aim of galvanising the civil service.
The PM said the plan would "land on desks around Whitehall with the heavy thud of a gauntlet being thrown down".
Echoing a phrase used by US-President elect Donald Trump, Sir Keir said: "I don't think there is a swamp to be drained here but I do think that too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline, have forgotten to paraphrase JFK that you choose change not because it is easy, but because it is hard."