Press release: PM call with President Trump: 4 June 2018

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on the phone earlier today.

The Prime Minister raised the US decision to apply tariffs to EU steel and aluminium imports, which she said was unjustified and deeply disappointing. The Prime Minister said the US, UK and EU are close national security allies and we recognise the importance of the values of open and fair trade across the world. The Prime Minister also underlined the need to safeguard jobs that would potentially be affected by the decision. They agreed to discuss this and wider issues of free and fair global trade further at the G7 summit later in the week.

They discussed North Korea, and the Prime Minister said the US had our full support ahead of the President’s planned summit with Kim Jong Un. They agreed we needed to see an agreement that brings about the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation and the removal of the North Korean ballistic missile capability. They agreed to discuss further at the G7 summit later this week.

They discussed the importance of stability in oil markets and the Prime Minister updated President Trump on her conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the weekend, where they had discussed the same issue, agreeing that stability was in the interests of both consumers and producers. On Yemen, the Prime Minister and the President agreed the enduring requirement for a political resolution to the conflict and cautioned against any action that might increase the severe humanitarian suffering there. They also agreed on the importance of continuing to work together to counter Iran’s destabilising regional activity, including its support for the Houthis in Yemen.

They agreed that taking a strong and unified stance against hostile state activity more broadly would be an important topic for discussion at the G7 summit.

They ended the call by saying they looked forward to seeing each other in the UK next month.