this is bbc news. i'm laura trevelyan, live in washington. the headlines this hour. welcome to the white house. theresa may becomes the first overseas leader to hold face—to—face talks with president trump. trade was top of the agenda, as well as strengthening the special relationship between the uk and the us. a free and independent bulletin is a blessing to the world. the relationship has never been stronger. good trade between the two countries as of the national interest on both. we'll bring you more from that news conference and look at how the relationship between mr trump and mrs may might develop in the future. in the past hour, theresa may has

been giving a news conference alongside donald trump, after she became the first foreign leader to visit him at the white house since he became president. mr trump said the us was renewing what he described as its "deep bond" with the uk following their meeting, which focussed on trade and security. the united states respects the sovereignty of the british people and their rate of self—determination. a free and independent bulletin is a blessing to the world and our relationship has never been stronger. but we understand governments must be

responsive to everyday working people, that governments must represent their own citizens. we look forward to working closely with you as we strengthen our mutual ties in commerce, business and foreign affairs. great days lie ahead for all to pupils and award two countries. our correspondent is at the white house. the prime minister came here really needing a trade deal, but she got a very strong commitment from the president with regard to nato. it was very important that she seemed to get that. she leaned over and said to him, you are 100% behind nato,

haven't you? she did see that the ra i lwa ys haven't you? she did see that the railways that there could be reformed to nato squeeze it could be better utilised to tackle terrorism. what she also did was the statement on torture, which is played very badly in the united kingdom. he was asked about his support for torture. he was asked if it could work. he said he believed it would work but he would defer to his secretary of defence on the matter. he would have the disabling fought on that. that was a clear statement on any issue which has been very contentious in both the united kingdom and in the united states. the two leaders are having a working lunch no. the prime minister said they were going to be

talking about syria and russia. minister said they were going to be talking about syria and russiam was interesting that russia was raised in the press conference. he said he did not know if they would have a good relationship with russia because he said he did not know the russian president. there were also reports that he had been thinking of lifting the sanctions against russia. he said it was premature. that would concern great britain. it is her belief that the sanctions should not be listed. in terms of syria, there has been talk of putting the fate of the presently on

the back burner. the prime minister may be group willing to go some distance with him on that. thank you for joining distance with him on that. thank you forjoining us. the first british journalist to ask a question was our own political editor, laura kuennsberg. here is what happened. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. prime minister, you have talked about where you agree, but you have also said you would be frank where you disagree with the president. can you tell us where in our talks you did disagree, and do you think the president listened to what you have to say? and mr president... we will see what she says! you have said before that torture works. you have praised russia. you have said you want to ban some muslims from coming to america. you have suggested there should be punishment for abortion. for many people in britain, those sound like alarming beliefs. what do you say to our viewers at home who are worried about some of your views and worried

about you becoming the leader of the free world? this was your choice of a question? there goes that relationship! on the issue you raised with me, laura, can i confirm that i have been listening to the president and the president has been listening to me. that is the point of having a conversation. we have been discussing a number of topics. we will carry on meeting after this press conference and discussing topics. there will be issues on which we disagree. the point of the special relationship is that we are able to have that open and frank discussion so that we can make that clear when it happens. but i am clear also that there are many issues on which the united kingdom and the united states stand alongside one another, many issues on which we agree. as i said if in my speech, i think we are at a moment

when we can build an even stronger special relationship which will be in the interests notjust of the uk and the united states, but in the interests of the wider world as well. we have a great general who hasjust been appointed secretary of defence, generaljames mattis. he has stated publicly that he does not necessarily believe in torture, or waterboarding or however you want to define it, enhanced interrogation, i guess, would be the words a lot of people would like to use. if i don't necessarily agree, but i would tell you that he will override because i am giving him that power. he is an expert. he is highly respected. he is the generals‘ general, got through the senate very quickly, which in this country is not easy, i will tell you. so i am going to rely on him. i happen to feel that it does work. you are

i have been open about that for a long period of time, but i am going with our leaders and we are going to win with or without. but i do disagree. as far as putin and russia, i don't say good, bad or indifferent. i don't know the gentleman. i hope we have a fantastic relationship. a that's possible, and it's also possible that we won't. we will see what happens. i will be representing the american people very strongly, very forcefully. and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries and if we go after isis together, which has to be stopped, that is an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. how the relationship works out, i won't be able to tell until later. i've had many times where i thought i would get along with people and i don't

like them at all. and i have had some where i didn't think i was going to have much of a relationship, and it turned out to be a great relationship. so theresa, we never know about those things, do we? but i will be representing the american people very strongly. wee kinky response from this from a political correspondent in london. —— we can get this response. -- we can get this response. there are many teams come are many teams correspondent -- we can get this response. there are many teams correspondent but also a body language expert. she was

obviously the first foreign leader to step into the white house to meet the president. there was a feeling of awkwardness at the beginning. i was struck by how the prime minister was struck by how the prime minister was struck by how the prime minister said there was 100% backing for nato. the president has been very open that he believes many of the countries are not paying their fair amount of money into the organisation and that america is paying too much on subsidising them. it was one of the questions tucked

into her pocket and for her to explicitly cv had that conversation and private and she got reassuring words from the president with regard to nato was very striking. she has to nato was very striking. she has to be able to make the case that it is in the united kingdom ‘s interest to have good relations with the united states, regardless of who is the president, but they are clearly very different characters. what impression do you think the president made in britain in his first press conference with the foreign leader? you got an element that there was a difference between president trump and the candidate. he was a lot more softly spoken. but

they were flashes of the man we saw on the campaign trail. but he is just so different from so many different top political figures. just talking about the volunteering about the difference of view between himself and the secretary of defence with regard to torture. the president admitted that the secretary of defence would have the final seal over the policy. that type of approach, acknowledging that isa type of approach, acknowledging that is a border that may have the final say, is to conventional politics, something of a surprise. i suspect, in terms of the overall united kingdom reaction, die—hard critics will not change the main, but those who really like what he has been seeing will be reassured. maybe some

who are open—minded mate acknowledge that there is another side to the president rather than the tub thumping performance as we saw during the election campaign. thank you very much. mrtrump is planning to speak to vladimir putin on the phone on saturday. his relationship with the russian president was brought up and here is what he had to say. as far as putin and russia, i don't say good, bad or indifferent. i don't know the gentleman. i hope we have a fantastic relationship. that's possible, and it's also possible that we won't. we will see what happens. i will be representing the american people very strongly, very forcefully. and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries and if we go after isis together, which has to be stopped, that is an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. how the relationship works out, i won't be able to tell until later. i've had many times where

i thought i would get along with people and i don't like them at all. and i have had some where i didn't think i was going to have much of a relationship, and it turned out to be a great relationship. so, theresa, we never know about those things, do we? but i will be representing the american people very strongly. joining me now is the republican commentator and part of the president's transition team. how do you think he did on his diplomatic debut on the world stage?|j you think he did on his diplomatic debut on the world stage? i was very disappointed that the first question he was asked was going back to

campaign staff. women being punished for abortion was a hypothetical question. he changed his position on chemo yesterday with anyone coming from an arab nation which supports terrorism. they have accomplished more things on his to—do list every day there has been an achievement. people are in shock what he has done. with regard to the press conference, what did you make of the prime minister seeing that the president had said he was 100 behind nato? he had previously said it was obsolete. people can take him literary and not seriously. i am sure she still feels that nato is obsolete. he is most perturbed that

we carry 80% of the cost and 27 of the countries involved in it do not pay the fierce year. he has selected a secretary of defence who has unsha keable belief in a secretary of defence who has unshakeable belief in nato. he does not need people to agree with them. acting road. he said he would be overruled when it comes to torture by the secretary of defence. he accepts that the general does not believe in it. that was extraordinary, but was that the essence of the president? are we going to do a literal antique pieces out or look at the whole picture. he has been very comfortable with people disagreeing with them. he has been treated that way. he said he

would not do anything or as skin on to do anything illegal. three years ago, an article written by several intelligence people said that torture had worked. there is a part of that believes that to be the case, but he's not going to force that on the people he believes are experts and that is not going to change him. we can talk about russia. we believe he is going to talk to the russian president tomorrow on the telephone. do you think it is too early to be talking about lifting sanctions on russia over the behaviour in ukraine?” about lifting sanctions on russia over the behaviour in ukraine? i do not know if it is too early. what would be the reason? what would be the thinking behind it? is it some sort of carrot? you can guarantee

that donald trump does not do anything without thinking it through and working out what the reaction is likely to be. the prime minister talked about russia, she talked about the agreement which russia has to live up to. the president did not seem as familiar with the diplomatic language as the prime minister. will that come in time? for someone who 80 months ago was not a politician at all, has told our entire political system upside down, who took 3000 counties. give a chance. he isa took 3000 counties. give a chance. he is a fast learner and it has been impressive at what he has mastered in this short time. thank you very much for us. we can heara

we can hear a little of that press conference. there was plenty of talk about the special relationship and then theresa may touched on one of the key themes of her trip — trade and economic links between the us and the uk. together we have around $1 trillion in invested in each other‘s economies. we also have a great deal of shearing, with regard to military hardware and expertise. we want to grow our respective economies and jobs for working people across both countries. joining me is peter bishop, the deputy chief executive of the london chambers of commerce. my my understanding is that tariffs

currently between britain and the united states are minimal, how much wood trigger officially be boosted bya wood trigger officially be boosted by a new deal? there is a natural extra bit on top. the tariffs are not generally a barrier to trade. as you heard from the prime minister, the trade between the two countries is enormous. they are our biggest export market individually. and we are in the top five of the five export markets. the investment between the two as enormous as well. we are starting from a good place. when a trade agreement usually comes into place, it is usually because barriers to the trade are high. usually when you register, things

improve. there will be thought going into what the trade negotiation will entail. what does this mean of there was a trade agreement? with these politically sensitive areas which are government the protected, such as defence and health spending, britain were to open up, such as opening up the national health service to american companies? the president is pitting americans first and he has to find something in it for the united states. they need to be getting preferential access. they have 320 million people compare to oui’ have 320 million people compare to our 65 million, so it is never going to be an equal deal. is this much more about this symbolism of the special relationship between britain and the united states, at a time when both political leaders are pointing to surely can go it alone with bilateral trade agreements?”

think that is a large part of it. by some measurement, the united states in the united kingdom and in the top five of the easiest places to do business in the world. doing business in the world. doing business with each other as at a starting point easy. but that does not mean free trade agreements cannot achieve more. the tariffs on all in every sector. they could be lower on both sides. you could take a week export licensing and import licensing. you could a mutual recognition of standards. i do not wa nt to recognition of standards. i do not want to give the overall impression that a free trade deal is a bad thing, but that is not the massive boost to trade as it could be in countries where editors traditionally much harder to do business. thank you. donald trump said he had a "friendly" call

with mexican president, enrique pena nieto. we had a talk that lasted for about an hour this morning, and we are going to be working on a fair and new relationship. but the united states cannot continue to lose vast amounts of business, vast amounts of companies and millions and millions of people losing theirjobs. that won't happen with me. we're no longer going to be the country that doesn't know what it's doing. so we are going to renegotiate our trade deals and we're going to renegotiate other aspects of our relationship with mexico. in the end, i think it will be good for both countries. the president talking about mexico in that press conference. we just heard what the president said, but elliott today, he had the long

telephone conversation with the mexican president after that massive bust up yesterday. that has resulted ina bust up yesterday. that has resulted in a mexican prison not coming here. what do you make of his comments today in the wake of that? during a news conference, he said he is not as brash as one might think. but some of the language she has used towards mexico. he promised to renegotiate trade deals with mexico and we saw a bit more of the orient donald trump we saw. he is definitely continuing the fight, shall we say, although as you see, he had this telephone conversation with the mexican president earlier today. one of the upshot is that both have agreed not to discuss publicly how this wall will be

financed? and it was not mention today. maybe he wasjust keeping his pa rt today. maybe he wasjust keeping his part of the bargain. but he said the united states cannot continue to lose huge amounts of business to mexico. he is certainly not giving up mexico. he is certainly not giving upa mexico. he is certainly not giving up a fate. what did you make of the overall tone of the press conference? you have covered politics in both countries. what did you think of the body language between them? it felt at times as if she was in charge and he was trying to bea she was in charge and he was trying to be a bit more statesman—like apart from to be a bit more statesman—like apartfrom in to be a bit more statesman—like apart from in these moments when he was discussing mexico. but our political editor is a very tough question of him. british journalists are actually asking him some tough questions. perhaps asking more difficult questions than he has been asked in the united states. you are

watching news, live in washington. they will be another opportunity to see that press conference in the next few minutes. no, we can catch up with the latest weather. we are starting to see a gradual change, with milder conditions coming in. we have had a lot more cloud prone through much of the day. you can see in the chart, this cold front pushing in from the continent. still quite a bit of cloud around. through the evening and overnight,

that will produce rain and it will fall on frozen surfaces in scotland. there could be some sleet and snow in with that. it will not be as frosty as a has—been. you can see, a gradual improvement during the course of tomorrow. temperatures tomorrow up to 8—9dc in the south of england. across eastern areas, it will still feel cold, because it is accompanied by a breeze and some light rain. the showers came to keep going during the night. then there is? regarding sunday. this band of impressionism. from much of

scotland, may be dry with the odd wintry shower. northern ireland, and central england, there is some doubt as to which product will actually get this large band of rain. this will become more apparent as we push into the afternoon. for many, it will be cloudier and wetter weather has been for some time. that he will continue until the beginning next week. this is bbc news. the theresa may and donald trump have stressed the deep bond between the uk and us after discussing trade, security and the special

relationship at their first face—to—face meeting. we pledge our lasting support to this most special relationship. a free and independent britain is a blessing to the world and our relationship has never been stronger. i'm convinced a trade deal is in the interests of both countries and will cement the special relationship between us. a haulage boss and a mechanic have been jailed for a total of 12 years after a tipper—truck crash that killed four people — including a four—year old girl. britain's biggest supermarket tesco is to buy the leading wholesaler booker, for £3.7 billion. more now on our top story — and theresa may has become the first foreign leader to hold talks president trump at the white house. a little earlier —

the two leaders held a news conference — let's hear in full what they had to say. iam i am honoured to have prime minister theresa may here for our first official visit from a foreign leader. this is ourfirst official visit from a foreign leader. this is our first visit. official visit from a foreign leader. this is ourfirst visit. so, a great honour. the special relationship between our two countries has been one of the great forces in history, forjustice and for peace. and by the way, my mother was born in scotland, stornoway, which is serious scotland. today, the united states renews our deep bond with britain, military, financial, cultural and political. we have one of the great bonds. we pledge our lasting support to this most special relationship. together, america and the united kingdom are a beacon

for prosperity and the rule of law. that is why the united states respects the sovereignty of the british people and their right of self—determination. a free and independent britain is a blessing to the world and our relationship has never been stronger. both america and britain understand that governments must be responsive to everyday working people, that governments must represent their own citizens. madam prime minister, we look forward to working closely with you as we strengthen our mutual ties and commerce, business and foreign affairs. great days lie ahead for our two peoples and our two countries. on behalf of our nation, i thank you forjoining us here today. it is a really great honour.

thank you very much. thank you very much, mr president. can i start by saying that i am so pleased that i have been able to be here today and thank you for inviting me so soon after your inauguration. i'm delighted to be able to congratulate you on what was a stunning election victory. as you say, the invitation is an indication of the strength and importance of the special relationship that exists between our two countries, a relationship based on the bonds of history, family, kinship and common interests. in a further sign of the importance of that relationship, i have today been able to convey her majesty the queen's hope that president trump and the first lady would pay a state visit to the united kingdom later this year, and i'm delighted that the president has accepted that invitation. today, we are discussing a number of topics, and there is much on which we agree. the president has mentioned foreign policy. we are discussing how we can work closely together to take

on and defeat daesh and the ideology of islamist extremism wherever it is found. our two nations are already leading efforts to face up to this challenge, and we are making progress with daesh losing territory and fighters, but we need to redouble our efforts. today we are discussing how we can do this by deepening intelligent today we are discussing how we can do this by deepening intelligence and security cooperation and by stepping up our efforts to counter daesh in cyberspace. we know we will not eradicate this threat until we defeat the ideology that lies behind it. 0ur talks will continue later. i am sure we will discuss other topics, syria and russia. 0n defence and security cooperation, we are united in our recognition of nato as the bulwark of our collective defence. today, we have reaffirmed our unshakeable commitment to this alliance. mr president, you confirmed that you are 100% behind nato. but we are also discussing the importance of nato continuing to ensure it is as equipped to fight

terrorism and cyber warfare as it is to fight more conventional forms of war. i have agreed to continue my efforts to encourage my fellow european leaders to deliver on their commitments to spend 2% of their gdp on defence so that the burden is more fairly shared. it is only by investing properly in our defence that we can ensure we are properly equipped to face our shared challenges together. finally, the president and i have mentioned future economic cooperation in trade. trade between our countries is already worth £150 billion a year. the us is the single biggest source of inward investment to the uk and, together, we have around $1 trillion invested in each other's economies. the uk—us defence relationship is the broadest, deepest and most advanced of any two countries sharing military hardware and expertise. the president and i are ambitious to build on this relationship in order to grow our respective economies, provide the high skilled, high—paid jobs of the future

for working people across america and the uk. so we are discussing how we can establish trade negotiation agreements, take forward immediate high—level talks, lay the groundwork for a uk—us trade agreement and identify the steps we can take now to enable companies in both countries to do business with one another more easily. i am convinced that a trade deal between the us and the uk is in the national interest of both countries and will cement the crucial relationship that exists between us, particularly as the uk leaves the european union and reaches out to the world. today's talks are a significant moment for president trump and i to build our relationship and i look forward to continuing to work with you as we deliver on the promises of freedom and prosperity for all the people of our respective countries. thank you. very nicely stated. steve holland ? thank you.

you will be speaking tomorrow with the russian president. what message would you like to convey to him? how close are you to lifting some of the sanctions imposed on russia over its ukraine incursion, what would you expect in return and prime minister may, do you foresee any changes in british attitudes towards sanctions on russia? well, i hear a call was set up and we will see what happens with sanctions. very early to be talking about that. we look to have a great relationship with all countries, ideally, but that will not necessarily happen. unfortunately, it probably will not happen with many countries, but if we can have, as we do with prime minister may and the relationship we have developed and even the short relationship that we have just developed by being with each other, having lunch, we have had some interesting talks and very

productive talks. but if we can have a great relationship with russia and with china and with all countries, i am all for that. that would be a tremendous asset. no guarantees, but if we can, that would be a positive. as far as the uk is concerned on sanctions for russia in relation to their activities in ukraine, we have been clear that we want to see the minsk agreement fully incremented. we believe the sanctions should continue until we see that agreement fully implemented and we have been continuing to argue that inside the european union. laura? laura kuenssberg, bbc news. prime minister, you have talked about where you agree, but you have also said you would be frank where you disagree with the president. can you tell us where in our talks you did disagree, and do you think the president listened to what you have to say? and mr president... we will see what she says!

you have said before that torture works. you have praised russia. you have said you want to ban some muslims from coming to america. you have suggested there should be punishment for abortion. for many people in britain, those sound like alarming beliefs. what do you say to our viewers at home who are worried about some of your views and worried about you becoming the leader of the free world? this was your choice of a question? there goes that relationship. 0n the issue you raised with me, laura, can i confirm that i have been listening to the president and the president has been listening to me, that is the point of having a conversation. we have been discussing a number of topics. we will carry on meeting after this press conference and discussing topics. there will be issues on which we disagree. the point of the special

relationship is that we are able to have that open and frank discussion so that we can make that clear when it happens. but i am clear also that there are many issues on which the united kingdom and the united states stand alongside one another, many issues on which we agree. as i said in my speech, i think we are at a moment when we can build an even stronger special relationship which will be in the interests notjust of the uk and the united states, but in the interests of the wider world as well. we have a great general who hasjust been appointed secretary of defence, generaljames mattis. he has stated publicly that he does not necessarily believe in torture, or waterboarding or however you want to define it, enhanced interrogation, i guess, would be the words a lot of people would like to use. i don't necessarily agree,

but i would tell you that he will override because i am giving him that power. he is an expert. he is highly respected. he is the generals‘ general, got through the senate very quickly, which in this country is not easy, i will tell you. so i am going to rely on him. i happen to feel that it does work. i have been open about that for a long period of time, but i am going with our leaders and we are going to win, with or without. but i do disagree. as far as putin and russia, i don't say good, bad or indifferent. i don't know the gentleman. i hope we have a fantastic relationship. that is possible, and it is also possible that we won't. we will see what happens. i will be representing the american people very strongly, very forcefully. and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries and if we go after isis together,

which has to be stopped, that is an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. how the relationship works out, i won't be able to tell until later. i have had many times where i thought i would get along with people and i don't like them at all. and i have had some where i didn't think i was going to have much of a relationship, and it turned out to be a great relationship. so, theresa, we never know about those things, do we? but i will be representing the american people very strongly. thank you. how aboutjohn roberts from fox? mr president, thank you and madam prime minister. it is my understanding that you had an hour—long phone call this morning with president enrique pena nieto of mexico. could we get an update

on where the relationship is? further to that, what do you say to critics who claim you have already soured a relationship with a very important us ally? and madam prime minister, are you concerned about the state of relations between the united states and mexico? i think the prime minister has other things she is much more worried about than mexico and the united states' relationship. but i will say that we had a very good call. i have been very strong on mexico. i have great respect for mexico. i love the mexican people. i work with them all the time. but as you know, mexico, with the united states, has out—negotiated us and beat us to a pulp through our past leaders. they have made us look foolish. we have a trade deficit of $60 billion with mexico. on top of that, the border is soft and weak. drugs are pouring in, and i am not going to let that happen. general kelly is going

to do a fantasticjob at homeland security. we swore him in yesterday. we have a very good relationship, the president and i. we had a talk that lasted for about an hour this morning, and we are going to be working on a fair and new relationship. but the united states cannot continue to lose vast amounts of business, vast amounts of companies and millions of people losing theirjobs. that won't happen with me. we are no longer going to be the country that doesn't know what it's doing. so we are going to renegotiate our trade deals and we are going to renegotiate other aspects of our relationship with mexico. in the end, i think it will be good for both countries. but it was a very friendly call. i think you will hear that from the president and i think

you will hear that from the people of mexico that represent him. i look forward to, over the coming months, we will be negotiating and we will see what happens. but i am representing the people of the united states and i am going to represent them as somebody should represent them, not how they have been represented in the past where we lose to every single country. as the president has said, the relationship with the united states and mexico is a matter for the united states and mexico. tom? mr president, you said you would help us with a brexit trade deal. you said you would stand by us with nato, but how can the british prime minister believe you? you have been known in the past to change your position on things. may i ask this question to both of you, people

are fascinated to know how you will get on with each other. you are so different, the hard—working vicar's daughter, the brash tv extrovert. have you found anything in common personally yet? i am actually not as brash as you might think. and i can tell you that i think we are going to get along well. it is interesting, because i am a people person. i think you are also, theresa. i can often tell how i will get along with somebody very early, and i believe we are going to have a fantastic relationship. brexit... and i don't change my position very much. if you go back and look, my position on trade has been solid for many years since i was a young person, talking about how we were getting ripped off by the rest of the world. i never knew i would be in this position where we can do something about it. but we will be talking to your folks about brexit. brexit was an example of what was to come, and i happened to be in scotland, at turnberry, cutting a ribbon when brexit happened.

and we had a vast amount of press there. i said brexit is going to happen. and i was scorned in the press for making that prediction. i said, i believe it is going to happen because people want to know who is coming into their country and they want to control their own trade and various other things. and lo and behold, the following day, it happened. and the odds were not looking good for me when i made that statement because, as you know, everybody thought it was not going to happen. i think brexit is going to be a wonderful thing for your country. when it's ironed out, you will have your own identity and you will have the people you want in your country and you will be able to have free trade deals without somebody watching you and what you are doing. i had a very bad experience. i had something in another country, and getting the approvals from europe was very tough.

getting the approvals from the country was fast, easy and efficient. getting the approvals from the group, i call them the consortium, was very tough. but i think brexit will end up being a fantastic thing for the united kingdom. it will be a tremendous asset, not a tremendous liability. 0n the question you asked me, tom, as the president himself has said, we have already struck up a good relationship. but you asked what we had in common. i think if you look at the approach we are both taking, one of the things we have in common is that we want to put the interests of ordinary working people rightat the centre stage. those people who are working all the hours, doing their best for their families and sometimes feel the odds are stacked against them, it is that interest

in ensuring that what we do, our economies and governments actually work for ordinary working people, work for everyone in our countries. we share that. thank you very much, everybody. that was the press conference in its entirety. chris mason is here. we have a lot of the usual phrases, great days lie ahead for our two people, a deep bond, we were expecting that. theresa may said, of america, that they are 100% behind nato, and we were not expecting that? that really left out from what we heard from the prime minister. she didn't have to say that. it is clear she was very clear to ram home publicly that one of their conversations in private was a

commitment to nato. president trump said repeatedly on the campaign trail that he said that the north atla ntic trail that he said that the north atlantic alliance is obsolete, a word he has used, and in particular he is very concerned about the funding formula. he thinks america has to bail out other countries that don't pay enough into the pot. the uk has long maintained that it meets the nato spending commitment on defence, as does the united states, but a good number of other members don't. the prime minister has acknowledged it is understandable, on that basis, that there might be a difference. there was clearly concerned from her and from loads of british politicians that if america we re british politicians that if america were to go soft on the idea of nato, the very existence of the alliance would be called into question. at a time when president putin had been flexing his muscles with the eyes asian of crimea and the fear from some of the —— with the annexation of crimea, and the fear from the baltic states, it was interesting

that the prime minister wanted to publicly pen his colours to the mast. we did know if that was a surprise, or if it was something they had agreed that she should say. lam they had agreed that she should say. i am actually very confident that president trump and the administration, they are strongly committed to the transatlantic bond. they see a strong nato is not only good for europe, but good for the united states. two world wars and a cold war have taught us that stability in europe is important for the united states. they know the only time that nato has invoked, article five, the defence clause, was after an attack on the united states, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, including money from united kingdom, have been fighting in afghanistan in an operation that

was a direct response to an attack on the united states. in the united states, they know that nato is important. making it really quite clear, his opinion. moving into other aspects of the press conference, one thing that came out was that there is to be a state visit, that the queen has invited donald trump. we know he is an anglophile and a supporter of the royal family. it would anglophile and a supporter of the royalfamily. it would be anglophile and a supporter of the royal family. it would be a anglophile and a supporter of the royalfamily. it would be a big deal to him? a huge amount, there has been a sense in whitehall, the foreign office and amongst diplomats, as soon as they knew it would be donald trump as president, a terrific card britain could play was to tap into his anglophile history, the fact his mother was born on the isle of lewis, he was in scotla nd born on the isle of lewis, he was in scotland the day before the referendum, and his mum was a real royalist. he has talked in the past about how she would regularly reflect on her love for the queen,

even though she spent a good number of decades of her life living in the united states. to give him the chance to meet the queen, be looked after and hosted by the queen, stay in buckingham palace or windsor castle, it is a tremendous thing for the uk to be able to offer the president. we expect that was going to come, but we got confirmation that the invitation has been sent, theresa may carried it over the atlantic, the president has accepted. that is going to happen later this year. it would be an extraordinarily colourful moment. i guess it is one with controversy as well. those that think that president trump is great will point to loads in this news conference which they think proves that, in terms of the strengthening uk— us relationship. those that do not like him will no doubt have plenty of opportunity, during the state visit, to make their views very well—known. that will be quite a spectacle, when it happens. a lot of journalists are posting about what their opinion this press release. from the

guardian, saying perhaps donald trump was acting, and his tone was quite restrained, he perhaps was not as gung ho, clock sure as he normally is? yes, he was pretty calmly spoken. we are so used to shots of him on the campaign trail. he is almost shaking the lectern, shouting, it is a very particular style of tub thumping rhetoric. it was quietly spoken. he was attempting to be that bit more reflective. he took a question where it was suggested he was quite bombastic, he said he was not. 0ccasionally he would get flashes of the campaign trump. he had a bit of a pop, halfjoke, half notjoke, laura kuenssberg, when she asked pointed questions about his views on torture. why publicly said to

theresa may, you asked for her to ask the question, you answer it! it is an insight into how he has a frosty relationship with the media and is open to saying it publicly. he made a virtue of it on the campaign trail. what about the body language? i know neither of us are experts, but you can't help not look at it. here is a sequence when they we re at it. here is a sequence when they were walking to the white house. he grabs her hand. who removes whose hand? those pillars have a lot to a nswer hand? those pillars have a lot to answer for. we don't know if it was answer for. we don't know if it was a proactive theresa may or donald trump, i guess he was trying to be courteous as she made her way along the rather posh gangway. it is inevitable that we focus on the

human relationship in the first meetings. it is difficult. think of it from their perspective, they are both new in office. this is the first time president trump has had a foreign leader visiting. he has only been there a matter of days and it is the first time the prime minister has been to washington since she took on thejob. has been to washington since she took on the job. you are bound to has been to washington since she took on thejob. you are bound to be nervous and probably wouldn't. i thought what was quite interesting was when they were specifically asked about their similarities, theresa may went for a political similarity, as she saw it bold of them to campaigning to s. r d p.‘ similarity, as she saw it bold of them to campaigning to s. r d p. ') 522 e 2a. them to campaigning to s. r d p. ') 522 e 24. u she went for a very human comparison. we are starting to see a gradual

change to conditions coming off the atlantic. we still had some freezing fog. we did see some sunshine in places, but it has come and gone through the day. on balance, we had a lot more cloud around, and it is cloud that we have to tank, the direction from which the wind is blowing, which means it will come much milder. we have been pulling in cold airfrom much milder. we have been pulling in cold air from continental europe, now we have milder air coming from the atlantic. still quite a bit of cloud around, through the day. it was not wall—to—wall cloud for many. now, through the evening and overnight, the cloud is producing some rain. it will fall onto frozen surfaces. there will be some winteriness, sleet and snow over the hills. it will not be as frosty as it has been. temperatures close to freezing, quite icy on some untreated roads and pavements, the likes of northern ireland, and scotland, potentially. iwould likes of northern ireland, and scotland, potentially. i would not lie to rule it out in northern

england. the best of the sunshine is coming through across southern and western areas into the afternoon, where temperatures are up to eight or nine. still a few showers around, and a blustery breeze. it will still feel cold, even though it is milder air across eastern areas by the afternoon, just because it is covered by cloud and grisly bits of rain. there could be a few heavy showers towards the north west of scotland. equally, a good few spells of sunshine to go with it. those showers tend to keep going in the north. then we have a question mark about sunday. it certainly looks like from the m4 southwards it will be wet, and for much of scotland it will be dry, bar one or showers. it is the areas in the middle, the likes of northern ireland, northern england, wales, even east anglia, there are concerns about which zone it will be in. at the moment, it looks like they will see some rain as we move through the day and into the afternoon. with a fairly brisk wind pushing the rain in, it is

still the far north, we think, mostly dry. for many it will be cloudy, wet and milder than it has been for some time. the milder, more u nsettled been for some time. the milder, more unsettled weather, with westerly wind of the atlantic, continues into the beginning of next week. not so cold, but cloudier, certainly. this is bbc news. the headlines this hour: welcome to the white house. theresa may becomes the first overseas leader to hold face—to—face talks with president trump. trade was top of the agenda, as well as strengthening the special relationship between the uk and the us. a free and independent bulletin is a blessing to the world. a free and independent britain is a blessing to the world. the relationship has never been stronger. i'm convinved that a trade between the two countries as of the national interest on both. not the president trump says he will

visit the uk this year as the two