President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain on Sunday about trade, the economy and the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, according to a statement from 10 Downing Street, which said that Mr. Starmer “paid tribute” to Mr. Trump for his role in securing the deal.
A British-Israeli woman, Emily Damari, was among the first three hostages released by Hamas under the terms of the agreement, which was negotiated by the Biden administration with a last-minute assist by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Starmer agreed to “meet soon,” according to the Downing Street statement. The two men first met over dinner last September at Trump Tower, along with David Lammy, the British foreign secretary.
Mr. Trump has spoken generously of Mr. Starmer, despite his affiliation with the center-left Labour Party. “He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me,” Mr. Trump said to the BBC earlier on Sunday, “but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far.”
Mr. Trump offered Mr. Starmer condolences on the death of his younger brother, Nick, from cancer last month, and expressed his “respect and affection for the Royal Family,” according to the statement.
The two leaders skirted a potential source of conflict over a deal, negotiated by Britain with Mauritius last fall, under which Britain agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands, a necklace of tropical islands in the Indian Ocean that is the site of a strategically significant joint U.S.-British naval base on the island of Diego Garcia.
Opponents of Mr. Starmer in Britain, including the right-wing leader Nigel Farage, have warned that the Trump administration would be hostile to the deal. But an official with knowledge of the call who was not authorized to speak publicly said Chagos Islands did not come up in the conversation between the president and the prime minister.
In a statement, the White House added that the leaders discussed “how both countries can promote a fair bilateral economic relationship.”
