Trump hails strength of US-UK ties as he visits Starmer at Chequers

Donald Trump hailed an “unbreakable bond” between the US and the UK as he met Sir Keir Starmer for talks at Chequers.

Sir Keir said it was a “great day for the special relationship” as the pair met business chiefs at the Prime Minister’s country retreat.

The Prime Minister said the UK-US relationship was “the very foundation of our security, our freedom and our prosperity”.

The pair signed a technology prosperity deal, offering major investment by US tech firms in the UK, that will help to develop its AI capabilities.

The Prime Minister also hailed the prospect of some £150 billion flowing into the UK from big US companies such as Blackstone and Palantir.

Mr Trump said the transatlantic ties were “priceless” and “I think it’s an unbreakable bond we have”.

“This agreement will also help America and our British allies dominate the future of artificial intelligence,” he said.

The UK and US have agreed plans for closer work on nuclear power, with Mr Trump pointing out AI data centres “need a lot of electricity”.

The US is “leading China and the world by a lot” on AI, he added.

Sir Keir said: “The UK is one of the world’s largest economies, maybe not quite on the scale of the United States, I concede, but my word, we punch above our weight, and we lead the world in expertise on quantum, on AI, life sciences, financial services and more.

“We have the only trillion-dollar tech sector in the West, outside of the US, again, I caveat.”

He said the tech deal, signed during Mr Trump’s unprecedented second state visit, marked “a great day for the special relationship”.

It was “a celebration of what has gone before, of course, but more than that, a moment to deliver investments, jobs and deals which will improve people’s lives now and light up the special relationship for years to come”.