Donald Trump affirms America’s ‘special relationship’ with Britain

After a few anxious hours this morning when it emerged that Donald Trump had found time to telephone nine world leaders — including Taoiseach Enda Kenny  — but not Theresa May, the Prime Minister has now received the call. In the course of the conversation, the pair agreed the US-UK relationship was ‘very important and very special’, and that building on this was a priority for both.

The Prime Minister also tried to lay the groundwork for a US trade deal as she highlighted her wish to ‘strengthen bilateral trade and investment with the US as we leave the EU’. As James notes in this week’s issue of The Spectator, Trump’s enthusiasm for Brexit does provide opportunity — a post-Brexit US-UK deal might be simple enough for the Trump administration to negotiate and Congress to ratify.

The conversation ended with Trump setting out his close and personal connections with Great Britain — a ‘very, very special place for me’ — and inviting May to visit him as soon as possible.