Donald Trump attempted to put up a united front with key ally Theresa May on Friday but stopped short of endorsing her commitment to continued sanctions on Russia.

At his first press conference with a foreign leader, the US president reaffirmed the “special relationship” with Britain, praised Brexit as a “wonderful thing” and indicated his support for the Nato military alliance.



But ahead of a phone conversation with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, due to take place on Saturday, Trump and May appeared at odds on whether sanctions must remain in place until Russia fulfils its obligations under the Minsk agreement.

“Well, I hear a call was set up and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters during a brisk 18-minute press conference at the White House with the British prime minister. “As far as the sanctions, very early to be talking about that, but we look to have a great relationship with all countries, ideally. That won’t necessarily happen.

“Unfortunately, it probably won’t happen with many countries … But if we can have a great relationship with Russia, and China, and all countries, I’m all for that, that would be a tremendous asset. No guarantees, but if we can, that would be a positive, not a negative.”

Trump has said in the past that he is prepared to review the sanctions that Washington imposed on Russia in response to its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

May, by contrast, told the press conference she believes that sanctions against Russia should remain in place. “We believe the sanctions should continue until we see that Minsk agreement full implemented and we’ve been continuing to argue that inside the European Union.”

The Minsk accords were signed in 2014 and 2015 to guide a peace process in eastern Ukraine but have failed to bring about a ceasefire. They stipulate that Ukraine must hold elections in the Donbas region while Russia must guarantee Ukraine’s control of its eastern border and allow international monitors full access to occupied territories.

Trump’s business interests in Russia, and his repeated praise for Putin, have drawn widespread scrutiny. House and Senate intelligence committees are to investigate alleged ties between Moscow and the Trump election campaign.

The issue of sanctions was just one where Trump – who made reference to his Scottish mother – and May studiously avoided overt disagreement. The leaders held hands briefly as they walked from the Oval Office to the East Room of the White House, but their differences, both political and personal, were also inescapably on display.

Asked after their first meeting what they had in common, May could only muster the she and Trump would champion “ordinary working people”. It was a more generic answer than George W Bush’s observation in 2001 that he and Tony Blair both used Colgate toothpaste.

Whereas May, a seasoned politician, is accustomed to the rough and tumble of the British media, Trump was clearly taken aback. The prime minister chose the BBC political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, for a question, which ran through Trump’s “alarming beliefs” on torture, Russia, Muslims and abortion.

Pointing to Kuenssberg and turning to May, the president pulled a face, smiled and said: “This was your choice of a question? There goes that relationship.”

May acknowledged there would be points of disagreement but insisted there were many issues on which the countries agreed and could build an “even stronger” special relationship.

Trump muttered “very good” about that answer. On the use of torture, he stuck to his firm opinion that it was an effective method of gaining intelligence. He said he would allow his defense secretary, James Mattis, to “override” him, adding: “But I do disagree.”

He went on: “As far as Putin and Russia, I don’t say good, bad or indifferent – I don’t know the gentleman. I hope we have a fantastic relationship. That’s possible, and it’s also possible that we won’t. We will see what happens.”

He added: “I will be representing the American people very, very strongly, very forcefully and, if we have a great relationship with Russia and other countries, and if we go after Isis together – that’s an evil that has be stopped – I will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing.”

But May appeared to try to box Trump in on some points. She said the president had reaffirmed both countries’ “unshakable commitment” to the Nato military alliance, and suddenly turned to him and said: “Mr President, I think you confirmed that you’re 100% behind Nato.”

Trump mouthed silently: “True.”

Although she gave more policy specifics than the businessman who had no previous political experience, Trump was keen to assert himself as host. After May’s opening remarks, he complimented her: “Very nicely stated.”

When a journalist asked both leaders a question about US-Mexico relations, the president said: “I think the prime minister, first of all, has other things that she’s much more worried about than the Mexico-United States relationship.”

Trump said he had had a friendly phone call with Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday but insisted that he would renegotiate trade deals and other aspects of the countries’ ties because Mexico has “beat us to a pulp” in the past.

Peña Nieto scrapped a planned meeting in Washington next week over Trump’s insistence that Mexico pay for a multibillion-dollar border wall. “It was a very, very friendly call,” Trump said. “We are going to be working on a fair relationship and a new relationship.

“But the United States cannot continue to lose vast amounts of business, vast amounts of companies and millions and millions of people losing their jobs. That won’t happen with me.”



There were mutual compliments too. May said she was delighted that Trump had accepted an invitation from the Queen to pay a state visit to Britain later this year. And the president commented: “I think Brexit is going to be a wonderful thing for your country.”