Donald Trump praised Andy Burnham after their first face-to-face meeting since Burnham became Prime Minister, but described the proposed Chagos Islands agreement as “terrible” and “ridiculous”.
The pair held 40 minutes of talks covering trade, energy and immigration, among other topics. Trump said the United States and the United Kingdom were “doing very well” after the meeting, while Burnham said he had established a “good connection” with the US president.
Trump criticises Chagos Islands agreement
Trump said he did not support the proposed agreement, under which Britain would transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while retaining control of the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. The arrangement is valued at £3.4 billion.
Trump said Burnham would look at the deal. He also questioned the basis of the proposed transfer, saying that ownership had suddenly been asserted after “decades and centuries”.
Falkland Islands discussed at UN talks
Burnham told Trump that the UK would stand firm against threats to the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and defend the islanders’ right to self-determination and to remain British.
Burnham said Trump understood the UK’s position during their talks at the United Nations in New York. The issue followed comments by Argentina’s president Javier Milei that had escalated tensions over the South Atlantic archipelago.
Immigration and UK-US relationship
Burnham said the UK’s commitment was to achieve a controlled approach to immigration, while recognising that people work in the NHS and care system. He identified small-boat crossings as a major public concern.
He said crossings during the summer were down by approximately 50% compared with six years earlier, while acknowledging that further progress was needed.
Trump described Burnham as a “natural businessman” and said he was going to be a great prime minister. He also praised Burnham’s “great election win” in the Makerfield by-election.
AI regulation to be G20 focus
Separately, Burnham told business leaders in New York that he wanted a single set of global principles and standards to guard against rogue artificial intelligence. He said the issue would be the main focus of the UK’s presidency of the G20 group of leading economies.
A More in Common survey found that 59% of Britons thought there was a non-zero chance that artificial intelligence would wipe out humanity in the next decade. The survey also found that 38% agreed the chance was over 10%.
Related: Judi James analyses Andy Burnham and Donald Trump’s first handshake
Source: Mirror
