Trump, Theresa May discuss post-Brexit trade deal, West Asia peace

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May have spoken for the first time since a row over his retweets of an extremist group and discussed a future trade deal post-Brexit and next steps in forging peace in the Middle East, officials have said.

The yesterday's phone call between the two leaders came nearly a month after the two clashed over tweets.

May had criticised Trump and said that he was "wrong" to retweet controversial anti-Muslim videos associated with a far-right British group on Twitter.

The UK has voted against America's decision recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at the United Nations.
 
"They agreed on the importance of a swift post-Brexit bilateral trade deal. The prime minister updated the president on the recent good progress of the Brexit negotiations, and the president set out the progress he had made on his economic agenda," the Downing Street office said in a statement.

The White House said the President and Prime Minister discussed next steps in forging peace in the Middle East.

"Both leaders also emphasised the urgency of addressing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen," the White House said.

Trump congratulated May on the decision by European Union leaders to move to the second phase of the Brexit negotiations.

During the call, the two leaders exchanged holiday greetings and warm wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

"The Prime Minister offered her condolences for the tragic train accident in Washington State," the White House added.