
President Donald Trump welcomed his first foreign leader to the White House on Friday, Britain's Theresa May.

The pair bonded over a bust of Winston Churchill in the American president's office and were later seen walking hand-in-hand from down the West Wing Colonnade on their way to a joint press conference.

Trump grabbed May's hand as they approached the cameras, patting it twice, and then letting it go.

May announced at a news conference that the Queen has invited Trump for a state visit to the UK and revealed that the president and first lady had accepted.

Trump and May opened a new chapter in the 'special relationship' between the allied nations as they met today for talks on trade, NATO and the fight against ISIS.

The fellow conservatives sealed their fledgling alliance in the Oval Office with a warm handshake. Trump said it was 'an honor' to have May in the White House. May replied: ‘Well thank you Mr President.’

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President Donald Trump and Theresa May only just met but the president felt comfortable enough to grab her hand today as the walked along the colonnade outside the Oval Office at the White House

Trump and May were seen walking hand-in-hand along the West Wing Colonnade at the White House during their meeting

May said the Queen has invited Trump for a state visit to the UK and revealed that the president and first lady had accepted

Trump and May opened a new chapter in the 'special relationship' between the allied nations as they met today for talks on trade, NATO and the fight against ISIS

The Prime Minister became the first world leader to visit the US president at the White House, sealing their fledgling alliance with a warm handshake

The pair bonded over a bust of Churchill. 'This is the original,' Trump said of the bust. 'This is the original, folks, in many ways'

The leaders greeted each other outside the White House this evening before he ushered her inside the building

They held a joint press conference an hour later at which Trump pointed out that his mother was born in Scotland and pledged the United States' 'lasting support to this most special relationship.'

The two leaders appeared comfortable with each other despite their differences on several key issues, including the use of torture on their nations' enemies.

After May called on a BBC reporter, who directed a difficult question to Trump about some of his more 'alarming' statements about Russia, torture, Muslims and punishment for women who have abortion, he turned to his contemporary and teasingly said, 'This was your choice of a question.'

'There goes that relationship,' he added.

The reporter asked May about areas where they may have disagreed, holding her to a promise to be frank with Trump.

'I've been listening to the president and the president's been listening to me...And there will be times when we disagree and issues on which we disagree,' she said, declining to delve into the details. 'The point of the special relationship is that we are able to have that open and frank discussion.'

May said she's confident that on 'many issues' they will 'stand alongside one another.'

'We are at a moment now when we can build an even stronger special relationship, which will be in the interest not just of the UK and the United States, but actually in the interest of the wider world as well.'

Trump said that he and May have developed a 'great relationship' even in the short time time they known one another - just by being with each other.'

The US president and British PM were heading to lunch after their joint presser. Already, Trump said they'd had 'some very interesting talks and very productive talks.'

'I think we're going to get along very well,' he said after a British reporter asked about their ability to get alone given their personality differences. 'You know, it's interesting because I am a people person. I think you are also, Theresa. And I can often tell how I get along with somebody very early, and I believe we're going to have a fantastic relationship.'

In the question the reporter referred to Trump as a 'brash, extrovert' and May as 'the hard-working daughter of a vicar. 'Actually, I'm not as brash as you might think,' Trump told him with a laugh.

The two leaders appeared comfortable with each other despite their differences on several key issues, including the use of torture on their nations' enemies

May told the reporter, 'I think we have already struck up a...good relationship.'

'One of the things that we have in common is that we want to put the interests of ordinary working people right up there, center stage. Those people who, you know, they're working all the hours. They're doing their best for their families and sometimes they just feel the odds are stacked against them,' she said.

Ensuring that their countries' governments 'actually work for ordinary working people' is a goal that they share, May added.

Trump and May met for an hour in the Oval Office before their joint press conference.

'Mr. President, I think you said, you confirmed that you're 100 percent behind NATO,' May said of their early talks. 'But we're also discussing the importance of NATO continuing to ensure it is as equipped to fight terrorism and cyber warfare as it is to fight more conventional forms of war.

'And I've agreed to continue my efforts to encourage my fellow European leaders to deliver on their commitments to spend two percent of their GDP on defense so that the burden is more fairly shared,' she said, touching on an aspect of NATO that has bothered Trump.

Trump had not said that publicly that he was '100 percent behind' the multi-nation alliance. But he indicated during the press conference that he was in agreement with his British counterpart.

Trump said that he and May have developed a 'great relationship' even in the short time time they known one another - just by being with each other.' May told a reporter, 'I think we have already struck up a...good relationship'

One of the British reporters asked Trump how his country could trust him to follow through on the commitment, given his history of changing positions, but the president did not answer him. He zeroed in on the reporter's mentioning of Brexit in the same question.

'I really don't change my position very much. If you go back and you look, my position on trade has been solid for many, many years, since I was a very young person talking about how we were getting ripped off by the rest of the world,' he replied. 'We will be talking to your folks about Brexit. Brexit was an example of what was to come.'

Trump reminded the reporter that he was in Scotland at his Turnberry golf course at a ribbon-cutting ceremony the day after the historic vote.

'I said Brexit is going to happen and I was scorned in the press for making that prediction. I was scorned,' he declared. 'And I said I believe it's going to happen because people want to know who is coming into their country and they want to control their own trade and various other things, and low and behold, the following day it happened and the odds weren't looking good for me when I made that statement because, as you know, everybody thought it was not going to happen.'

Continuing he said, 'I think Brexit's going to be a wonderful thing for your country. I think when it irons out, you're gonna have your own identity and you're going to have the people that you want in your country and you're going to be able to make free trade deals without having somebody watching you and what you're doing.'

Back in the Oval: The head of Winston Churchill was a work by Jacob Epstein, the renowned post-war British sculptor, and is now back on a table in the Oval Office

May arrived at the White House on Friday just before noon. Reporters were allowed into the Oval Office after she arrived at the top of her meeting with Trump to observe him welcoming her into the historic room.

A lamp was blocking the Churchill bust when reporters filed in and Trump asked that it be moved so they would have a better view.

'This is the original. This is the original, folks, in many ways,' Trump said, showing off the bust of the famed British prime minister that was resting on a stand in between he and May. 'It's a great honor to have Winston Churchill back in the White House.'

The Churchill bust had gotten the boot under Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama. It was back in view last Friday as Trump took his first actions as president, signing executive orders and a waiver to let generals serve in his cabinet despite prohibitions on ex-military tenure.

There was a transatlantic flap when Obama removed the Churchill bust in 2009. The White House at first denied it had been removed, but it was later confirmed that it had been returned to the British Embassy.

In contrast to the red carpet treatment being granted to the British prime minister, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will have to make do with a phone call with Mr Trump tomorrow.

The US commander-in-chief is also due to speak to Vladimir Putin.

May was expected to urge Trump today to be wary of the Russian president in their afternoon lunch. She told Republican lawmakers at a Thursday afternoon speech that her policy toward the strongman is 'engage but beware.'

Reporters were not able allowed to witness May's arrival or departure. The White House instead tweeted a picture of the PM - dressed in a striking red-orange dress - signing the visitors' book.

Earlier, she laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

The PM took part in an emotional ceremony at the national monument in Virginia - where at least 15 British forces personnel are buried alongside American comrades - standing somberly as the Last Post was played.

The site holds the remains of unidentified US troops from the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean conflict.

Theresa May is being given the red carpet treatment by the new US administration at the White House today

Mrs May and the commander-in-chief are set to cover an array of topics over lunch, including crucially trying to hammer out the basis of a wide-ranging post-Brexit trade deal

The White House tweeted a picture of the PM - dressed in a striking red-orange dress - signing the visitors' book

Dressed in black, the PM was greeted by troops representing all military units based in Washington, led by Major General Bradley Becker, commander of Joint Force Headquarters for the national capital region.

A cannon was fired 19 times as Mrs May's convoy arrived and made its way to the memorial, which stands on a small hill looking down over serried ranks of gravestones to the monuments of Washington a few miles away across the Potomac River.

After a military band played the national anthems of the UK and US, the premier mounted the steps to lay a wreath of red poppies, bowing her head in respect as a single trumpeter sounded the Last Post.

More than 400,000 US troops killed in conflicts from the Civil War to the ongoing War on Terror are laid to rest at Arlington.

Also at the site are a memorial to the victims of the Lockerbie terror attack and the grave of assassinated US president John F Kennedy.

The Prime Minister laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown solider at the Arlington National Cemetery today before heading for talks with President Trump

PM was at the monument in Virginia, where at least 15 British forces personnel are buried, and stood sombrely as the Last Post was played

The Prime Minister dabbed at her nose amid freezing temperatures as she walked up to the monument in Arlington

The premier has enjoyed a positive start to her visit, with Republicans lavishing praise on her address to their conference in Philadelphia.

After she laid into two decades of 'failed' liberal interventionist foreign policy, receiving three standing ovations, one congressman raved that she might be Mr Trump's 'long lost sister'.

FRENCH PRESIDENT HOPEFUL SLAMS MAY FOR PANDERING TO DONALD TRUMP Britain is becoming a 'vassal' to the US, a front-runner for the French presidency has complained. Emmanuel Macron delivered a stinging rebuke to Theresa May as he branded Donald Trump's first week in power 'worrying'. 'Britain lived in an equilibrium with Europe,' the independent candidate told France Culture radio. “But now it is becoming a vassal state, meaning it is becoming the junior partner of the United State.” Polls have shown Mr Macron, a former investment banker, closing in on conservative contender Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Advertisement

House Speaker Paul Ryan posted a photo of himself with the PM on Twitter, saying it had been 'an honor' to welcome her.

'We had an excellent, wide-ranging discussion about strengthening the special relationship between our nations,' he added.

Sen. Cory Gardner, of Colorado, said May had 'renewed the special relationship between our two great nations'.

The PM hosted a party at the British residence in Washington last night, where the guests included Secretary of Defense General James Mattis - known as 'Mad Dog'.

Officially the UK cannot engage in formal negotiations on its own free trade deals with third countries while it remains a member of the EU.

May told GOP lawmakers Thursday: 'I think there is much we can do in the interim in terms of looking at how we can remove some of the barriers to trade in a number of areas, so we are able to see an advantage to both of us even if we haven't been able to sign that legal free trade agreement.'

In the same speech, she ripped up two decades of 'failed' liberal interventionist foreign policy that has dragged Britain into a string of disastrous conflicts.

The Prime Minister also said the days of the UK using military force to 'remake sovereign countries in our own image' were finished.

Speaking at the gathering of Republicans, she laid out a new set of rules which will see the UK intervene only when the 'threat is real' and it is in our own interests.

The comments effectively bring an end to what have been dubbed 'wars of choice' and the so-called 'Chicago doctrine' established by Tony Blair.

May also warned Donald Trump to 'beware' Russian president Vladimir Putin and chose to evoke the memory of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher during the Cold War.

She said: 'When it comes to Russia, as so often it is wise to turn to the example of President Reagan who - during negotiations with his opposite number Mikhail Gorbachev - used to abide by the adage 'trust but verify'. With President Putin, my advice is to 'engage but beware'.

Speaking on Thursday evening to senior US politicians, Theresa May laid out a new set of rules which will see the UK intervene only when the 'threat is real' and it is in our own interests.

In her speech to the Republican Retreat convention, Mrs May added: 'There is nothing inevitable about conflict between Russia and the West. And nothing unavoidable about retreating to the days of the Cold War. But we should engage with Russia from a position of strength.

'And we should build the relationships, systems and processes that make cooperation more likely than conflict – and that, particularly after the illegal annexation of Crimea, give assurance to Russia's neighbouring states that their security is not in question.

'We should not jeopardise the freedoms that President Reagan and Mrs Thatcher brought to Eastern Europe by accepting President Putin's claim that it is now in his sphere of influence.

'And progress on this issue would also help to secure another of this nation's priorities – to reduce Iran's malign influence in the Middle East.

'This is a priority for the UK too as we support our allies in the Gulf States to push back against Iran's aggressive efforts to build an arc of influence from Tehran through to the Mediterranean. '

Mrs May became the first world leader ever to address the Republican Retreat convention and will become the first foreign leader to meet President Donald Trump at the White House later

May said she wanted the UK and America to 'stand strong together' and the two countries must be 'smart and hard-headed', but only mentioned Trump by name once in her speech.

She said: 'It is in our interests – those of Britain and America together – to stand strong together to defend our values, our interests and the very ideas in which we believe. This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past.

'The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.

'But nor can we afford to stand idly by when the threat is real and when it is in our own interests to intervene.

'We must be strong, smart and hard-headed. And we must demonstrate the resolve necessary to stand up for our interests.'