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Keir Starmer turned into the ultimate Royal Mail postman as he charmed Donald Trump with a hand delivered invitation from King Charles.
The Prime Minister produced the letter – inviting the US President to the UK for an “unprecedented” second State Visit – during a historic White House meeting.
Mr Trump said “the answer is yes”, insisting he was “honoured” to accept His Majesty’s invitation and visit such a “fantastic” country.
The genuinely warm moment broke the tension as the two leaders held highly-anticipated talks in the Oval Office.
In an extraordinary 30-minute love-in inside the famous Presidential office, Mr Trump gave a strong hint that Britain could escape the punishing tariffs he has threatened to impose on the EU.
He hailed Brexit and signalled that a peace deal for Ukraine could be struck soon.
Mr Trump also said he is “inclined to go along with” the UK’s Chagos Islands deal and said they would be having discussions about the deal during their meeting.
It was a huge moment for Sir Keir, who said to me on the plane en-route to Washington that Britain is the “bridge” between the US and Europe.
The pair, who come from the opposite ends of the political spectrum, appeared easy in each other’s company, occasionally joking and laughing together.
One toe-curling moment came when Mr Trump lavished praise on Sir Keir’s “beautiful” wife, Lady Victoria, before the PM chirped in and said “I second that”.
There were some touchy-feely moments too, although not in the ingratiating manner of French President Emmanuel Macron who visited Mr Trump earlier in the week.
Watching on from one of the Oval Office sofas were Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Starmer’s Security adviser Jonathan Powell, his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and Washington Ambassador Peter Mandelson.
On the opposite side were US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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