TRUMP’S BEST FRIEND
CHURCHILL’S BUST IS BACK IN THE OVAL OFFICE, THE PRESIDENT AND THERESA MAY ARE HOLDING HANDS AND THE U. S.- U. K. RELATIONSHIP IS AS STRONG AS EVER.
WA S HI NGTON • President Donald Trump on Friday pledged America’s “lasting support” to the historic “special relationship” the United States has with Britain after he emerged from his first meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, leader of an ally who seeks to nudge the populist president toward the political mainstream.
May, who said the meeting was the start to building their relationship, announced that Trump had accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II for a state visit later this year with his wife, first lady Melania Trump.
Trump sought to charm May, noting during his first news conference as president that, “by the way, my mother was born in Scotland.”
“I am honoured to have the prime minister here for our first official visit from a foreign leader,” Trump said, standing alongside May in the ornate White House East Room. “This is our first visit so, great honour.”
He added that the United States and the United King- dom have “one of the great bonds.”
May thanked Trump for inviting her to visit so soon after his inauguration last Friday and said their meeting was an indication of the strength and the importance of maintaining good relations between the transAtlantic allies. She said there was “much on which we agree.”
May’s meeting with the president is being hailed by the British government as a sign that the trans- Atlantic “special relationship” is valued by the new administration.
Before answering questions from a few journalists, Trump welcomed May to the Oval Office where he promptly showed off a bust of Winston Churchill, one of her predecessors.
“It’s a great honour to have Winston Churchill back,” Trump said. The bust had been moved from the Oval Office to another part of the White House when Barack Obama held the office.
Trump and May were seen holding hands briefly as they walked along the White House colonnade before the news conference. Afterward, they resumed their talks while dining in the State Dining Room on iceberg wedge salads, braised beef short ribs and salted caramel crème brûlée.
May’s visit, so soon after Trump’s inauguration, has been criticized by her political opponents, and risks being overshadowed by the flood of announcements, plans and proposals coming out of the White House.
On Thursday, May was repeatedly asked about Britain’s stance on torture — the U.K. has condemned it — after Trump said he thinks torturing terrorism suspects works.
Trump reversed himself somewhat on Friday, saying that his defence secretary’s opposition to torture would override his own belief that enhanced interrogation “does work,” addressing concerns about a return to Bushera use of waterboarding and other especially harsh procedures.
Two issues—whether Trump would allow the use of torture and the U.S .- Mexico relationship— dominated the new president’ s brief news conference after his first meeting with another world leader.
Trump is something of a mystery to world leaders, so May is a bit of a scouting party — or guinea pig — among global politicians.
She has strong reasons for wanting the relationship to work. Britain is set to leave the European Union and its 500 million- person single market.
A trade deal with the U.S ., Britain’s biggest export market, is a major prize.