The UK’s hopes for a continuation of the much-vaunted special relationship with the US under Donald Trump have suffered an early setback after the new president-elect spoke to nine world leaders in the 24 hours after his election win, without Theresa May getting a call.
Trump has thus far talked to the leaders of Ireland, Mexico, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia and South Korea, according to various reports.
A Downing Street spokesman said a phone call between May and Trump was “being arranged now”. He said: “They will speak at the earliest possible opportunity.” The spokesman added that May had sent the president-elect a letter.
May’s letter, announced on Wednesday, offered her personal congratulations to the controversial and unexpected victor in the presidential election. In an earlier message the prime minister said she was confident of continued cooperation with the US with Trump in the White House.
“I would like to congratulate Donald Trump on being elected the next president of the United States, following a hard-fought campaign,” May said, in a message containing none of the veiled criticism of his views expressed by Angela Merkel, among others.
“Britain and the United States have an enduring and special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise. We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security and defence,” May said.
“I look forward to working with president-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead.”
According to reports, the first leader Trump spoke to on the phone was the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. Sisi congratulated him on the election victory, a spokesman for the Egyptian leader said.
Ireland’s government said the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, had a 10-minute call with Trump, and was invited to visit the White House on St Patrick’s Day.
Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has said he and Trump agreed in their call to meet before Trump takes office, while Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was invited to the White House.
Other leaders to have a chat with Trump so far include the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe – they reportedly talked for 20 minutes and agreed to meet soon in New York – and South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye.
Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was reported to have chatted with Trump about security and trade in their call.
Nigel Farage, the interim Ukip leader and main British political cheerleader for Trump, had earlier predicted that the Republican’s election win would usher in a new era of close relations between the countries.
Speaking on TalkRadio, Farage said: “However imperfect Donald Trump may be, and my goodness me he is, his mother was Scottish, he owns Turnberry, he spends a lot of time in our country, he loves our country, what we stand for and our culture.
“And this is a big opportunity for all British business. Once we’ve left that awful EU thing, we can now do our first trade deal with the United States of America. Isn’t that great.”
