WASHINGTON — The Latest on President Donald Trump‘s visit with British Prime Minister Theresa May:
1:20 p.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says President Donald Trump has reaffirmed both countries’ “unshakeable commitment” to the NATO military alliance.
Trump had rattled European allies by suggesting NATO is “obsolete” and that the United States might not come to the aid of countries that don’t meet targets for their own defense spending.
May’s comments after their meeting Friday are meant to put that concern to rest. She says the two also agreed it is important for member countries to “invest properly to face our shared challenges together.”
May also says she extended an invitation to visit England on behalf of the queen and that Trump has accepted.
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1:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump is pledging support for what he calls a “most special relationship” between the U.S. and Britain.
Trump says in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May it is an honor to have her at the White House as his first official visit from a foreign leader.
He says, “The special relationship between our two countries has been one of the great forces in history” for justice and peace.
He says the U.S. “respects the sovereignty of the British people and their right of self-determination” and says both counties understand “that governments must be responsive to everyday working people.”
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12:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump is showing off a bust of Winston Churchill that decorates the Oval Office as he hosts British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Trump says “it’s a great honor” to have the bust back in the Oval Office. President Barack Obama was criticized for removing the bust of the beloved British prime minister.
May is the first foreign leader to visit since Trump took office last week.
May says it’s “an honor” to be at the White House.
The two are expected to hold a joint news conference and lunch later Friday.
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12:01 p.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has arrived at the White House to meet with President Donald Trump.
The president is hosting May Friday in the Oval Office. She’s the first foreign leader to visit since Trump took the oath of office last week.
The White House said late Thursday that May and Trump would hold talks, followed by a news conference and a working lunch.
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10:11 a.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
The ceremony comes in advance of her meeting with President Donald Trump.
Dressed in black and flanked by a military honor guard, May walked along the broad avenue leading to the white marble tomb, accompanied by Maj. Gen. Bradley Becker, the U.S. military commander for Washington.
She laid a wreath of red poppies, then paused silently while a military bugler played “Taps.” May wiped away sniffles as she walked up the stairs to the cemetery’s neoclassical museum.
In a speech Thursday in Philadelphia, May signaled she would be more reluctant than some of her predecessors to commit to foreign military engagements like the Iraq War.
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3:37 a.m.
President Donald Trump is set to meet his first world leader since taking office — British Prime Minister Theresa May, a friendly ally who hopes to nudge the populist president toward the political mainstream.
The visit Friday comes a day after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called off his own trip to Washington, planned for next week, amid wrangling over who will pay for Trump’s planned wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump’s spokesman said the president would seek a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to pay for the barrier, then later clarified that such a tax would be a possible approach.
May’s meeting with the president in the Oval Office is being hailed by the British government as a sign that the trans-Atlantic “special relationship” is valued by the new administration.
