Chris Mason: Inside the room — how Burnham survived his first meeting with Trump

A bilateral meeting was held in a neutral room in the basement of the United Nations headquarters in New York between US President Donald Trump and the UK's regional government leader, former city mayor Andy Burnham. After this one-on-one conversation, observed by representatives of influential media outlets and lasting longer than originally planned, the White House chief, answering journalists' questions, declared his readiness for close cooperation with the British official despite political disagreements.

"Postxronika.az" reports, citing the BBC, that during this special meeting held at the UN building, Trump called his British counterpart a "natural businessman," stressing that he understood the substance of issues precisely and knew exactly what needed to be done. During this encounter, which had been awaited with a degree of nervousness and tension in London's political circles and on Downing Street beforehand, the head of state noted that he had previously had productive phone conversations with Burnham several times as well.

In meetings like this before the cameras, which can be prone to blow-ups and turn tense, Trump once again demonstrated that he can be both sharp and genuinely warm when he chooses to be. This goodwill shown while answering journalists' questions not only eased concerns on the London side, but also sent a positive signal for the development of future relations between the two allied countries.

Rəşad Hüseynov