Donald Trump cosies up to Theresa May and claims he wants their relationship to be ‘even better than Thatcher and Reagan’
The pair reportedly discussed their 1980s' predecessors during a very loved up lunch in the White House
DONALD Trump told Theresa May he wants their relationship to be ‘even better than Thatcher and Reagan’ during an extraordinary loved up White House lunch.
Fresh details emerged last night of the US president and PM’s blooming political romance during their historic first meeting on Friday.
During more than three hours together, Trump issued a series of gushing compliments to court Mrs May.
The New York property billionaire also told her when he makes a state visit to Britain this summer to meet the Queen, that "I want to see you first".
And handing over the lunch’s menu card to an aide, Trump ordered: "Keep that safe, I had lunch with the British Prime Minister".
The startling bonding between the two very different characters lead Downing Street to herald the crucial opening summit as a diplomatic triumph and a big boost for post-Brexit Britain.
The climax came during a working lunch in the White House's state dining room, when conversation “was warm, free-flowing and unscripted”, No10 revealed.
A large chunk of the table chat was about their 1980s’ predecessors.
The close bond between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan when they governed in the 1980s is seen as an all time high in the post World War Two special relationship.
Their partnership was credited with winning the Cold War, as well pushing through major economic reforms.
The PM’s spokeswoman said: “Both agreed it was one of the most successful political relationships ever.
“They referred to the time that Thatcher took over Britain and the large challenges that she faced, and agreed that they had a shared admiration for her.
“Trump went on to say that he always looked up to Reagan and said that he wanted their relationship to be even better than that one.”
The Anglophile president also repeated several times that it was “really important” for him to see Mrs May before any other world leader.
The president asked Mrs May for her thoughts on why Brits voted to leave the EU in last June’s landmark referendum.
On top of wanting to be a sovereign nation again, the PM said “hard-working people felt they had been left behind”.
Trump replied to tell her that he “cared for those people too” and said there were “many in America who felt the same”.
The one area the pair didn’t see eye to eye was on Russia.
Mrs May also used the lunch to press Trump on the need to keep up sanctions on the resurgent country as well as Vladimir Putin’s cronies for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
But the president failed to echo her strong sentiment.
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Though Mr Trump mentioned his pal Nigel Farage in passing, he did not repeat his suggestion that the ex-UKIP leader should be made British ambassador to Washington.
Despite being pressed by campaigners, Mrs May didn't bring up Trump's controversial previous views on women or Muslim immigrants.
No10 insisted: "A key objective was to establish a strong and positive working relationship, and the PM believes that was achieved".
Also around the large table were eight other senior figures from each’s administration – including Vice President Mike Pence, US National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, and Trump’s son in law and close advisor Jared Kushner.
During the leaders’ first joint press conference after less than an hour of meeting Mrs May, Trump predicted the pair would have “a fantastic relationship” and that they would turn US-UK relations into a “most special relationship”.
President Trump was due to ring Russian boss Vladimir Putin yesterday (SAT) to hold their first conversation.
With Mrs May’s successful visit complete, Trump will step up his diplomacy by also speaking over the phone to the leaders of Japan, Germany, France and Australia.