LONDON _ United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May sent her two most senior aides on a secret trip to the U.S. in an attempt to build bridges with President-elect Donald Trump after a frosty start to their relationship.
May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, flew across the Atlantic to meet members of Trump's team in mid-December, May's office confirmed in an emailed statement late Thursday, saying it was part of the buildup to the premier's first trip to meet the new president.
"The prime minister suggested it would be a good idea for key staff from both teams to meet. President-elect Trump agreed this would be useful," May's office said. "We are pleased to have been able to make that happen and the prime minister looks forward to visiting the new president in the spring."
The relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. is seen as vital to May's administration, which is looking for new trade partnerships around the world as Britain prepares to leave the European Union. May is attempting to recover lost ground after a difficult start to her alliance with the president-elect.
The prime minister suffered the personal embarrassment of being outflanked by her political rival Nigel Farage, the former U.K. Independence Party leader, who met Trump within days of his victory in November. She was then forced to reject Trump's controversial suggestion that Farage _ who is close to key members of the president-elect's team _ should be made U.K. ambassador in Washington.
In December 2015, May, who was then Britain's home secretary, criticized Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. as "divisive, unhelpful and wrong."
Timothy and Hill had their own work to do on the trip. Before they took up posts in May's new government in July, Timothy said on Twitter that he did not want "any 'reaching out' to Trump," while Hill tweeted: "Donald Trump is a chump."
Officials in the U.K. government are said to be concerned at their poor links with the incoming U.S. administration at a time when Britain is looking to expand trade after leaving the EU. In private, officials complain that Trump's team is not giving them any notice of its intentions.
It took Trump more than a day to speak to May by phone after his election victory in November. On that call, he invited the premier to visit Washington as soon as possible.
In an effort to strengthen ties with the new White House, May's office has said it is considering inviting Trump on a state visit to the U.K. as early as this year, during which he would stay as a guest of Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London.
