Donald Trump has been invited by King Charles for a “historic” state visit to the UK, Sir Keir Starmer said.
The prime minister presented the US president with a copy of the invitation while the pair met in the Oval Office.
Sir Keir and his US counterpart shared warm words as they spoke ahead of a press conference in which they are expected to reveal details of their discussions on the Ukraine war and trade.
Mr Trump called Sir Keir a “special man” and a “great gentleman” as he said he would be visiting the UK in the “near future”.
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office, president Trump said it was a “great honour to have Prime Minister Starmer at the Oval Office”.
“It’s a very special place, and he’s a special man – and the United Kingdom is a wonderful country that I know very well, I’m there a lot.”
He said the pair would discuss the Russia-Ukraine war, trade, and “lots of other items”.
“And I think we can say we are going to be getting along on every one of them,” the president added.
Sir Keir also made his own opening remarks and praised Mr Trump for “changing the conversation” on Ukraine “to bring about the possibility that now we can have a peace deal”.
“We want to work with you to make sure that this deal, is enduring, that it lasts, that it’s a deal that goes down as a historic deal that nobody breaches,” he said.
“And we’ll work with you, to make sure that that absolutely happens.”
Other issues that the two leaders are poised to discuss is the contentious Chagos Islands deal, in which the Indian Ocean archipelago would be transferred to Mauritius after a decades-long dispute.
The agreement includes the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, home to a UK-US military base that plays a crucial role in the region’s stability and international security.
Under the proposed agreement, the UK would lease back Diego Garcia for 99 years at a reported annual cost of around £90m.
Although the Biden administration welcomed the deal as a “win for diplomacy”, Donald Trump’s White House has expressed reservations about the deal owing to its concerns over China’s influence in Mauritius.
