Donald Trump has said he plans to call Sir Keir Starmer in the next 24 hours after it emerged the Prime Minister has been waiting for days to speak to the newly inaugurated President.
In the first few days of his office, it emerged the 47th US President had already reached out to a number of global leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, El Salvador leader Nayib Bukele and Chinese President Xi Jinping but not the British PM.
However, Trump has now said he plans to call Starmer praising him for having "done a very good job" so far and adding they "get along well" despite the Labour leader being "liberal, which is a little bit different from me".
The US President added that Starmer was a "good person", and said he "represented his country in terms of his philosophy".
"I may not agree with his philosophy but I have a very good relationship with him," Trump added.
'I may not agree with his philosophy but I have a very good relationship with him,' Trump said on Starmer
Getty ImagesStarmer met with Trump in September at Trump Tower in New York before his election as President the second time around.
They have also spoken over the phone twice prior to Trump’s inauguration.
On Friday the Prime Minister's deputy official spokesman appeared to issue a plea for Trump to call Starmer ahead of an expected visit to Washington.
He said: "The Prime Minister would welcome the opportunity to speak to President Trump at the earliest opportunity and they had a productive meeting in September and subsequent positive phone calls in recent months and he looks forward to speaking to him soon."
When challenged on whether it was unusual that no phone call had taken place, the deputy official spokesman replied: "I wouldn’t accept that characterisation".
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Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, the newly elected President revealed that his first international trip would be either to the UK or Saudi Arabia - which is where he first travelled in his first term.
“Traditionally it could be UK,” he said, although in his last term, he travelled to Saudi Arabia because it agreed to buy billions of dollars worth of US merchandise.
Trump said: "If that offer were right, I'd do that again.”
Elon Musk, who has played a big role in Trump’s reelection and presidency so far, has been one of the loudest voices against Starmer and has repeatedly called for him to be replaced.
The US President has also spoken to Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday, where he urged the King to take more Palestinians from Gaza.
"I said to him I'd love you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it's a mess, it's a real mess. I'd like him to take people."
He also said he would like Egypt to take people from Gaza, adding he would speak to President Abdel Fattah al Sisi on Sunday.
Trump called Gaza a “demolition site” where “people are dying”
Getty
Trump called the strip a "demolition site" where "people are dying," saying "I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change."
He also confirmed he has fired 17 independent inspector generals at several government agencies.
He said he would "put good people in there that will be very good".
While inspectors are appointed by the President, they are meant to be nonpartisan and some have served presidents from both parties.
