May, Trump agree on need for quick post-Brexit trade deal

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Dec 21, 2017 06:00 am

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump "agreed on the importance of a swift post-Brexit bilateral trade deal" in talks on Tuesday, Downing Street said.

The leaders discussed a future trade deal between the two countries during a phone call which focused on several other issues including Jerusalem, a spokesman said.

It was their first conversation since a rare public row erupted last month after Mrs May criticised Mr Trump's retweeting of a fringe British far-right leader's anti-Muslim messages, which provoked an angry response from the president.

"The PM updated the president on the recent good progress of the Brexit negotiations, and the president set out the progress he had made on his economic agenda," the spokesman said.

The phone call also touched on Mr Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, which Mrs May called "unhelpful" and said the British government disagreed with.

"They discussed the different positions we took on the recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, and agreed on the importance of the US bringing forward new proposals for peace and the international community supporting these efforts," the Downing Street spokesman added.- AFP