Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer were clearly on a mission to make each other’s lives easier at their joint press conference on Thursday.
Despite plenty of thorny topics threatening to cast a cloud over an otherwise successful state visit, both steered clear of sticking the boot in despite tricky questions being asked.
From Lord Mandelson’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Russia, The Independent runs you through the key takeaways after the pair’s media grilling.
Jeffrey Epstein
Perhaps the biggest risk for Sir Keir and Mr Trump was the scandal around Lord Mandelson’s ties to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The US president has his own historic links to the financier, and Sir Keir last week fired his ambassador to Washington over a series of emails he had exchanged with Epstein.
Sky’s Beth Rigby was the only journalist to broach the topic, and Mr Trump dismissed the question by simply saying: “I don’t know him… I had heard that and maybe the prime minister would be better at speaking of that.” It comes despite the pair being pictured holding hands in the Oval Office less than six months ago.
Sir Keir repeated his well-worn line that “information came to light” after Lord Mandelson’s appointment that forced him to sack his former Trump-whisperer.
Disagreement over Palestinian statehood
In what was the only openly acknowledged disagreement between the pair on Thursday, Mr Trump said he opposes Sir Keir’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state.
The prime minister said the timing of the decision, expected in the coming days, was nothing to do with the end of the state visit.
But, asked about the move, Mr Trump said: “I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score, one of our few disagreements actually.”
Mr Trump said his focus was instead on securing the release of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.
Sir Keir confirmed they had discussed his plans and that recognition of a Palestinian state would be “part of that overall package which hopefully takes us from the appalling situation we're in now to the outcome of a safe and secure Israel, which we do not have, and a viable Palestinian state”.
He also described Hamas as terrorists, prompting Mr Trump to give Sir Keir a supportive and exaggerated pat on the back.
Small boats
In another headline-grabbing moment, Mr Trump was asked to give Sir Keir advice on how to replicate his success in limiting the number of migrants entering the US via irregular routes.
The US president said illegal migration can “destroy” countries and urged the prime minister to get the military involved. The advice came on the same day that the government announced it had sent back the first migrant to France under the one-in-one-out deal.
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“What I saw happening, with millions of people pouring into our country, I couldn't stand to watch it, and we've done a great job,” Mr Trump told Sir Keir.
He added: “I think your situation is very similar. You have people coming in and I told the prime minister I would stop it, and it doesn't matter if you call out the military, it doesn't matter what means you use.
"It destroys countries from within and we're actually now removing a lot of the people that came into our country."
Putin let Trump down
Mr Trump also lashed out at Vladimir Putin, saying he felt “really let down” by the Russian despot.
The president said he thought Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would be the easiest conflict for him to solve, given his strong relationship with the dictator.
But a peace deal has stalled, and Russia’s killing of Ukrainian civilians continues.
“He's let me down,” Mr Trump said, when asked about the ongoing war.
He said: “I'm very honoured to tell you that we've solved seven wars, seven wars, wars that were unsolvable, wars that couldn't be negotiated or done, the US has done seven of them.
"The one that I thought would be easiest would be because of my relationship with President Putin, but he's let me down.”
But Mr Trump said he does not regret meeting Putin in Alaska, adding that Russia will eventually be forced to “drop out” of the war if sanctions mount.
Free speech
As was expected, Sir Keir was asked about free speech in the UK and whether it is under threat.
Tensions have mounted between the PM and the Trump administration over issues such as the Online Safety Act.
Sir Keir said: “Free speech is one of the founding values of the United Kingdom, and we protect it jealously and fiercely and always will. And we will bear down on any limits of free speech.
"I draw a limit between free speech and the speech of those that want to peddle paedophilia and suicide (on) social media to children.
"And therefore I'm all for free speech, I'm also for protecting children from things that will harm them: paedophiles, those that peddle suicide, which has had a terrible consequence for individual, particularly teenagers. And so that's the balance we strike."
For his part, Mr Trump claimed the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show was because he "is not a talented person and had bad ratings". The president said it is not a free speech issue and that Mr Kimmel was “fired for a lack of talent".
Windmills
Another classic of Mr Trump’s press conferences is the US president taking aim at wind farms.
Wind power is a “very expensive joke”, he said on Thursday alongside Sir Keir, praising the North Sea’s oil as “phenomenal”.
He said: “You have a great asset here we spoke about, it's called the North Sea. The North Sea oil is phenomenal. And I hope, because I love this country.
“You know, my mother was born in Scotland ... and I want this country to do well. And you have great assets that you're going to start using, I believe, under this prime minister, thank you.
Sir Keir said that oil and gas will be “part of the mix” for many years to come, but that investment in renewables was also needed.
“It’s the mix that’s really important. And the approach I’ve taken on this is the same approach that I say to many other things, a pragmatic approach,” the PM added.
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