US President Donald Trump said Andy Burnham is a man he can do business with, after the two leaders met in person for the first time.
Trump said UK-US relations are “more up now” that Burnham is in power, following their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Speaking to reporters, Burnham said he had “established a good connection” with Trump and they had “taken that further today” following discussions on issues such as trade and immigration.
But the US president made clear his opposition to the UK’s “terrible” deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and pay to lease back an important joint UK-US military base.
Trump and Burnham met on Tuesday as they attended the United Nations for the annual gathering of world leaders.
Following bilateral talks, Burnham sat alongside Trump and used his opening remarks to say: “You and I have established a good connection in our early discussions and we’ve taken that further today.”
The two men then faced questions shouted from the assembled press pack.
Asked by the BBC if Burnham was a man he could do business with, Trump said: “Yeah I do, I think he’s a natural businessperson, we’ve had a lot of discussions even before this meeting we’ve spoken to each other numerous times on the phone.
“Yeah, I think so, he gets it, he understands what he has to do.”
The US president added that the UK is a country with “great patriotism”, and he thinks it is “waiting for good leadership, waiting for success”.
But Trump reiterated his criticism of the Chagos Islands deal and stressed how a joint UK-US military base on the archipelago’s largest island, Diego Garcia, is “strategically very important”, particularly in relation to US operations in Iran.
The agreement would see the UK cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius and pay an average of £101m ($136m) per year to lease back the military base – but in April the deal was paused indefinitely because Trump pulled his support.
Speaking on Tuesday, Trump said: “I think the prime minister is going to be looking at [the deal].”
Burnham replied: “Yep.”
The prime minister had spoken to his Mauritian counterpart, Navin Ramgoolam, ahead of his trip to New York. On Monday, he said the UK was “determined to secure the long-term operation of the base” and work “towards a resolution”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has long been a critic of the deal, posted on X: “The Chagos deal is dead. Thank God.”
