US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the next week or two in Washington.
Mr Starmer's trip comes as the UK faces the looming threat of trade tariffs set by the US. Mr Trump said on Thursday he plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on all countries that add extra costs to US goods.
The impact of the announcement on the UK was not immediately clear, but the policy published by the White House included VAT as a target for reciprocal tariffs.
Mr Starmer “asked for a meeting, and I agreed to the meeting, we're going to have a friendly meeting,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We have a lot of good things going on, but he has to come and see me. And I just accepted his asking," he added. "I think he wants to come next week or the week after. I've met him twice already. We get along very well, very nice guy.”
Mr Starmer is also likely to discuss Ukraine's future with the US President.