U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is planning to meet with President-elect Donald Trump in spring 2017 although no firm timing has been arranged, her office confirmed Thursday evening.
May’s joint chiefs of staff, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, travelled to New York and Washington in mid-December on a secret mission to rebuild bridges with Trump’s advisors, Downing Street said. May was critical of Trump during the presidential campaign, saying in December 2015 that his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States was “divisive, unhelpful and wrong.”
The meeting between Trump and May’s aides took place around a month after the President-elect suggested via Twitter that Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage should be Britain’s ambassador to the U.S.. In response, May’s office put out a terse statement saying that there was “no vacancy”.
“The prime minister suggested it would be a good idea for key staff from both teams to meet. President-elect Trump agreed this would be useful,” Downing Street said in a statement sent to TIME. “We are pleased to have been able to make that happen and the prime minister looks forward to visiting the new president in the spring.”
It’s just the latest move by May to curry favor with the incoming president, as the U.K. seeks to build new trading relationships ahead of its withdrawal from the E.U. Last week she distanced the U.K. from the current administration in Washington by criticizing a speech made by John Kerry on Israeli settlements as “inappropriate.”
And, unlike German Chancellor Angela Merkel, May gave Trump a wholehearted congratulations on his shock presidential election victory last November, telling him that the U.K. and U.S. “are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security and defence.”
- How an Alleged Spy Balloon Derailed an Important U.S.-China Meeting
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- Column: Elon Musk Should Not Be in Charge of the Night Sky
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart
- 80 for Brady May Not Be a Masterpiece. But the World Needs More Movies Like This
