Donald Trump praised Andy Burnham after their first face-to-face meeting at the UN General Assembly, describing him as a “natural business person” and saying UK-US relations were improving. However, Trump attacked the UK’s £3.4 billion agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, calling it “terrible” and “ridiculous”, prompting Burnham to say the deal would be reviewed.

The agreement includes a lease for the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, which both countries consider strategically important. Burnham said he wanted to secure the base’s future, raised the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and discussed the impact of US tariffs on a north-east English factory; the pair also disagreed over international regulation of artificial intelligence.