Story highlights President Barack Obama also made a similar request of Australia's Malcolm Turnbull

Theresa May was among the first leaders to congratulate Donald Trump on his upset win

(CNN) Before he departed office, President Barack Obama encouraged British Prime Minister Theresa May to form a close relationship with incoming President Donald Trump, according to a British official familiar with their conversations and a former senior administration official.

Obama hoped she and other center-right leaders could act as a moderating and sobering force on the incoming US President and pressed her to remain in close contact with Trump as he assumed the presidency, the officials said. Obama's conversations with May included during their final in-person meeting in Berlin in November.

May and Trump are scheduled to meet Friday at the White House, and both world leaders are expected to address the congressional Republicans' retreat in Philadelphia on Thursday.

May was among the first leaders to congratulate Trump on his upset win in November, and she spoke with Trump shortly after he was inaugurated.

Obama also made the request of Australia's Malcolm Turnbull during a meeting on the sidelines of his final APEC meeting in Peru.

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