Donald Trump said he has a “very good relationship” with Sir Keir Starmer, adding the prime minister has done a “very good job thus far”.
It comes despite the pair’s turbulent relationship since Sir Keir took office, amid rows with Mr Trump’s ally Elon Musk, who has publicly criticised the UK PM, and anger over Labour helping Kamala Harris in the US election.
But speaking to the BBC on board Air Force One, Mr Trump said the pair would have a phone call “over the next 24 hours”.
“I get along with him well. I like him a lot,” Mr Trump said.
“He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me, but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far.
“He’s represented his country in terms of philosophy. I may not agree with his philosophy, but I have a very good relationship with him.”
The president added the UK was being considered the destination for the first international trip of his second term.
He said: “It could be Saudi Arabia, it could be UK. Traditionally it could be UK.”
Sir Keir most recently met with Mr Trump at Trump Tower in New York during the presidential campaign.
The pair also spoke on the phone following Mr Trump’s election victory, with Downing Street saying both men agreed the relationship between the UK and the US was “incredibly strong” and would “continue to thrive”.
Following Mr Trump’s inauguration last week, foreign secretary David Lammy indicated Sir Keir would visit Washington within weeks.
Mr Trump’s warm words about the prime minister come despite a row after Labour sent 100 volunteers to help his Democrat rival Ms Harris ahead of the US election.
The UK prime minister also failed to secure an invite to Mr Trump’s inauguration, with the attendance of political rivals including Nigel Farage and Priti Patel compounding the issue.
Meanwhile, Mr Musk has been heavily critical of the Labour government in recent weeks as the billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX piled pressure on the prime minister to order an inquiry into grooming gangs.
There were also reports that the tech billionaire discussed removing Sir Keir from Downing Street.
Mr Trump’s comments will come as a welcome boost to Sir Keir, as a number of diplomatic challenges loom for the government, including the Republican’s threats of tariffs and suggestions he could pull out of Nato or pressure Ukraine into a peace deal with Russia.
There have also been suggestions that Mr Trump could veto the UK’s proposed deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius over fears the deal could open up a joint US-UK military base to Chinese interference.
