United States President, Donald Trump, has said his relationship with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is currently better than the one he had with his predecessor, Keir Starmer.
Trump made the remarks on Tuesday during his first meeting with Burnham on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the two leaders discussed issues including trade, energy, immigration, Ukraine and the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he believed the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom was improving under Burnham.
“No I think they’re up.
“Well they’re more up now than they were with your last prime minister, let me put it that way.
“I think right now, based on my relationship with the prime minister, Andy, I think that, I think we’re doing very well.”
Trump also spoke positively about Burnham, saying he expected him to perform well as prime minister.
“I think he’s going to be a great prime minister. I think he’s got a lot of assets on his side.
“We talked about everything from Rolls-Royce to energy, immigration. We covered a lot.
“[The UK] is a really special country. And we are with you all the way, Mr Prime Minister.”
Burnham responded by saying the relationship between both countries was important and that he and Trump had developed a good connection through their previous discussions.
“Thank you Mr President.
“That’s wonderful. We really appreciate that.
“This relationship matters so much to us. And we will build on that relationship.
“You and I have established a good connection in our early discussions, and we’ve taken that further today.”
The two leaders also discussed the Chagos Islands agreement, which would transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius while allowing the UK and US to continue operating the military base on Diego Garcia.
Trump criticised the proposed deal, describing it as “terrible” and saying Burnham would review it.
“I don’t support it. I think it’s a terrible deal.
“They all of a sudden say they have ownership, somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous. No, we were talking about that.
“It’s strategically very important, very important. You know, we had to send our B-2 bombers when we bombed the Iran nuclear, we sent the B-2 bombers back home to Missouri. As opposed to flying for a short period of time, they had to fly for a long period of time.
“It’s amazing how strategic it is, and I think the prime minister is going to be looking at it. It’s very strategic location. And it’s unique
“It’s a very important piece of real estate, militarily and strategically.”
Burnham replied, “Mmm, yup.”
The meeting also touched on immigration, with Burnham describing migration as a major issue in British politics and saying his government was committed to a controlled approach.
“It was a very big issue at the Makerfield byelection and a lot of the British media will know that.
“And I spoke about it then – our commitment is to get to a controlled approach. That’s what people want to see.
“They’re not against migration overall. They know that people work in the NHS and in the care system. [There’s a] difference, though, when it’s managed or when it’s uncontrolled.
“And the small boats is a very big issue for people. But crossings this summer were down 50% there or thereabouts on the number six years ago.
“So sometimes people don’t hear that the progress is being made. But the progress is being made.”
