British PM finally gets to congratulate president-elect more than 24 hours after his election victory was confirmed

Theresa May has spoken on the phone to Donald Trump and stressed to the new US president-elect that he should seek to unite America when he takes office, Downing Street has said.

May talked to Trump earlier on Thursday, a Downing Street statement said. It added that the prime minister called “to congratulate him on his hard-fought election campaign and victory”, and confirmed May had been invited to visit the US “as soon as possible”.

“She noted President-elect Trump’s commitment in his acceptance speech to uniting people across America, which she said is a task we all need to focus on globally,” read one section of the statement, which is as close as May has come so far to referring to Trump’s controversial and divisive campaign.

In the call, Trump made reference to the famously close relationship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher as a hopeful aim for their ties, a Downing Street source said.

Trump “alluded to their relationship as a way to underline that he was keen to have a good personal working relationship, too,” the source said.

The call came after concerns that the much-vaunted special relationship with the US might have suffered an early setback under Trump as he spoke to nine other world leaders in the 24 hours after his election win, without May getting a call.

“The prime minister and President-elect Trump agreed that the US-UK relationship was very important and very special, and that building on this would be a priority for them both,” the statement said. “President-elect Trump set out his close and personal connections with, and warmth for, the UK.

“He said he was confident that the special relationship would go from strength to strength.” May noted to Trump that the UK and US had “a long history of shared values”, the statement said.

“She highlighted her wish to strengthen bilateral trade and investment with the US as we leave the EU. But she said that our relationship is so much more than that and our two countries have always stood together as close allies when it counts the most,” it said.

“President-elect Trump strongly agreed and added that the UK is a ‘very, very special place for me and for our country’. The call ended with President-elect Trump inviting the prime minister to visit him as soon as possible.”



Meanwhile the British chancellor, Philip Hammond, said Trump’s election on a platform of protectionism showed how the case must be made for free trade, but also stressed that it was by no means certain the president-elect would pull out of trade deals as promised.

“He has only been president-elect for two days,” Hammond said following talks with China’s vice-premier, Ma Kai. “I think we should let him take stock, consider with his advisers, consult widely, and then of course we will look forward to engaging with him.”

Asked about Trump’s views on imposing tariffs, Hammond said: “We will continue to make the case for open markets and free trade. We equally recognise the challenge that occurs when within a society there are significant groups of people who no longer see that open markets and free trade are delivering results for them.”

According to reports, the first leader Trump spoke to on the phone after his election victory was the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. Sisi congratulated him on the election victory, a spokesman for the Egyptian leader said.

Ireland’s government said the taoiseach, Enda Kenny, had a 10-minute call with Trump, and was invited to visit the White House on St Patrick’s Day.

Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has said he and Trump agreed in their call to meet before Trump takes office, while Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was invited to the White House.

Other leaders to have a chat with Trump so far include the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe – they reportedly talked for 20 minutes and agreed to meet soon in New York – and South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye.

Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was reported to have chatted with Trump about security and trade in their call.