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Donald Trump has said a “very good” tariff-free trade deal between the US and the UK is on the cards as he lavished praise on Keir Starmer.
The president said the PM was “a very special person” with “a beautiful accent” following the pair’s first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House.
Earlier, the president had also appeared to give his blessing to the deal the UK government has struck to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite fierce opposition from the Tories and Reform UK.
But it was his comments about the prospect of a UK-US trade deal which will be most warmly welcomed by Downing Street.
Asked if Starmer had persuaded him not to impose tariffs on British exports to America, Trump said: “He tried. He was working hard, I’ll tell you that. He earned whatever the hell they pay him over there.
“I think there’s a very good chance that in the case of these two great friendly countries, I think we could end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary.
“We’ll see, but he earned whatever they pay him today. He was working hard at lunch and I’m very receptive to it.
“I think we have a very good chance of arriving at a very good deal … that could be really terrific for both countries.”
Trump also accepted an invitation from King Charles to become the first US president in history to receive two state visits to Britain.
In his letter, which was given to the president by Starmer in the Oval Office, the King said: “As you will know this is unprecedented by a US President. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and programme content.
“In so doing, working together, I know we will further enhance the special relationship between our two countries of which we are both so proud.”
Trump and Starmer appeared to strike up a good relationship as they first fielded questions from reporters in the Oval Office and then at a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House.
The president told the PM: “Prime minister Starmer, you’ve been terrific in our discussions. You’re a very tough negotiator, however, I’m not sure I like that, but that’s okay.
He added: “The prime minister and I have gotten off to an outstanding start. The US and UK have a special relationship, very special, really, like no other passed down through the centuries, and we’re going to keep it that way.”
In a bizarre moment, the unpredictable president even praised the way Starmer speaks.
After the PM finished his introductory remarks at the press conference, Trump said: “What a beautiful accent. I would have been president 20 years ago if I had that accent.”
The only moment of disagreement between the pair came when Trump once again repeated his false claim that European countries had been repaid by Ukraine for the money they gave the country to help it fight Russia.
The president, who is set to sign a deal with Volodymyr Zelenskyy tomorrow giving the US access to some of Ukraine’s precious minerals, said: “We wanted to have a little bit of what the European nations have. They get their money back, we don’t get our money back.
“[Joe] Biden made a deal, he put in $350bn and I thought it was a very unfair situation.”
But Starmer jumped in: “We’re not getting all of ours. Quite a bit of ours was gifted, it was given, there were some loans, but mainly it was gifted actually.”
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