The prime minister has had a two-hour dinner with former US President Donald Trump in New York.
It is the first time Sir Keir Starmer and Trump have met. The pair were joined by Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Sir Keir was in New York for the UN General Assembly but made time to meet Trump at his New York base – Trump Tower. He is now flying back to the UK.
The PM said it was “good” he had the opportunity to meet the Republican presidential nominee and that it was “really to establish a relationship between” the two of them.
A UK government source said the pair had “discussed the longstanding friendship between the UK and the US and the importance of continuing to develop the strong and enduring partnership between our two countries”.
Speaking ahead of their meeting, Trump said of the PM: “I actually think he’s very nice. He ran a great race, he did very well, it’s very early, he’s very popular.”
Lammy has previously called the former president a “racist” and a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”.
Sir Keir did not meet the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, on this trip.
They have not met before either.
He previously said he would like to see both candidates ahead of the US presidential election on 5 November.
The prime minister said he “obviously” still wanted to speak to Vice-President Kamala Harris, but that there were the “usual diary challenges”.
He added: “I’m a great believer in personal relations on the international stage. I think it really matters that you know who your counterpart is in any given country, and know them personally, get to know them face to face.”
Harris is in Washington for talks alongside President Joe Biden with President Volodymyr Zelensky, as a row between the Ukrainian leader and the Trump campaign escalated.
Republicans have reacted angrily to the Ukrainian president’s decision to visit an arms factory in the US president’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with several top Democrats, and it now appears Zelensky will not meet Trump as had been expected.
When asked by reporters if a Trump presidency would leave the UK more exposed on the global stage when it comes to support for Ukraine, the prime minister said: “The first thing I think is important to say in relation to this is we’ve obviously had a special relationship with the US for a long time, forged in really difficult circumstances.
“That always sits above whoever holds the particular office, either in the US or the UK.”
He said the relationship was probably as “as strong now as it’s ever been” in relation to the Middle East and Ukraine”.
Sir Keir added: “The US people will decide who they want as their president, and we will work with whoever is president, as you would expect. I’m not going to speculate on what any particular issues may be the other side of the election.”
Foreign Affairs Committee chair and Labour MP Emily Thornberry said she understood there needed to be “a certain amount of relationship building” but that the UK “shouldn’t pull our punches”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she thought Trump was a racist and that racist conduct should be “called out” if it occurs.
