Sir Keir Starmer had a two-hour meeting with Donald Trump when the pair first met.
The Prime Minister visited the Republican presidential candidate at his Trump Tower in New York on Thursday night.
They had a two-hour dinner before Sir Keir had to leave to fly back to the UK and the Prime Minister is said to have welcomed the opportunity to meet the former president.
They both discussed the long-standing friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the importance of continuing the strong and long-standing partnership between our two countries.
It came after Trump praised the prime minister at a news conference before the meeting.
Sir Keir Starmer speaks at the United Nations in New York
Asked what he thought of Sir Keir, he joked: “Well, I’m going to see him in about an hour, so I have to be nice.”
He continued: ‘I actually think it’s very nice. He ran a great race, he did very well, he is very popular from very early on.’
Sir Keir visited Trump Tower after speaking at the United Nations General Assembly.
However, in a blow to Downing Street, he was unable to arrange an introduction to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, whom he had not met before, before his return to the UK.
She was in Washington DC watching Ukraine’s leader as he presented his “victory plan” to the White House and it is unclear whether Sir Keir will be able to meet her before the US election in just over a month.
Former President Donald Trump speaking at Trump Tower in New York
Ahead of his first meeting with Trump, Sir Keir told reporters: “As you know, I have said several times that I want to meet both candidates.” Now we have the opportunity to meet with Trump, which is good. Obviously, I also want to talk to Harris. But you know, the usual diary challenges, but it’s good that this one has been solved now.’
When asked what his message to Trump would be, the prime minister responded: “It will be really establishing a relationship between the two of us.” I am a big believer in personal relationships on the international stage. I think it’s really important that you know who your counterpart is in a given country, that you know them personally and that you meet them face to face.’
But he added: “I should probably add that our side, our embassy, has good relations with both sides and has had for a long time.” “So it’s not the beginning of something, it’s the continuation of those good relations that have existed with both sides, and that’s a really good thing that the embassy has been doing.”
