Donald Trump appears to have scaled back a threat that involving Huawei in Britain's 5G network could scupper a trade deal with the US.

A read-out of a telephone call between the US President and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday night contained no reference to the President's warnings about the Chinese firm being allowed access to Britain's digital infrastructure.

The US administration has told allies not to allow the Chinese tech giant, Huawei, to form part of their 5G networks, claiming it would be a security risk – a claim that the company vehemently denies.

Last year, The Sunday Telegraph revealed that President Trump’s negotiators had gone as far as to threaten there would be no US-UK trade deal in the wake of Brexit if Britain did not fall into line over China and Huawei.

However in a statement released by the White House on Friday evening after the call, a spokesman said: "The two leaders discussed important regional and bilateral issues, including working together to ensure the security of our telecommunications networks." Mr Trump has also made no public intervention on the issue in recent weeks, despite being expected to do so ahead of a final government decision on the issue expected to be taken this week.