Donald Trump has said he thinks Sir Keir Starmer has “done a very good job” so far and said the pair will speak over the phone “over the next 24 hours”.
The US president said he and the prime minister “get along well” despite Sir Keir being “liberal, which is a little bit different from me”.
“But I think he’s a very good person,” Mr Trump said. “I think he’s done a very good job thus far.
“He’s represented his country in terms of his philosophy. I may not agree with his philosophy but I have a very good relationship with him.”
Sir Keir previously met Mr Trump for dinner at Trump Tower in New York in September, before he was elected president for a second time, and has held two pre-inauguration calls with him.
Image: Sir Keir Starmer. Pic: PA
Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One that his first international trip could be to the UK, or Saudi Arabia – the first country he travelled to as president during his first term.
The US president said “traditionally it could be UK”, but last time he travelled to Saudi Arabia because it agreed to buy billions of dollars of US merchandise.
“If that offer were right, I’d do that again,” he said.
Mr Trump’s warm remarks about Sir Keir were at odds with those of billionaire Elon Musk, who has played a starring role in his second presidency so far, and has repeatedly called for the prime minister to be replaced.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:38
Prime minister sends message to Trump for inauguration
Trump reverses Biden’s halt on 2,000lb bombs for Israel
Mr Trump also said he had instructed the US military to reverse an order from former president Joe Biden halting the supply of heavy 2,000lb bombs to Israel.
“They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time,” Mr Trump said about the munitions.
Mr Biden had paused delivery of the bombs to Israel over concerns about the impact they could have on civilians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Trump says Egypt and Jordan should take more Palestinians from Gaza
Mr Trump also said Egypt and Jordan should take more Palestinians from Gaza and when asked if it was a temporary or long-term suggestion, he replied: “Could be either.”
Speaking of his call to Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday, the president said: “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.”
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” he added, saying he would speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi on Sunday.
He said the Palestinian enclave was “literally a demolition site, almost everything is demolished and people are dying there”, adding: “So 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.”
President fires inspectors general at several agencies
Mr Trump also confirmed he had fired 17 independent inspectors general at several government agencies and said he would “put good people in there that will be very good”.
Inspectors generally act as an independent check on mismanagement and abuse of power inside US government agencies, and while they are appointed by the president, they are expected to be nonpartisan and some serve presidents from both parties.
It comes after the US State Department ordered a freeze on new funding for almost all American foreign development assistance following an executive order issued by Mr Trump.
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Image: Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Image: Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Image: Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
Roman Lavrynovych appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was remanded in custody.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command led the investigation because of the connections to the prime minister.
Emergency services were called to a fire in the early hours of Monday at a house in Kentish Town, north London, where Sir Keir lived with his family before the election.