Trump praises new British PM Burnham but criticizes Chagos Islands agreement

Trump praises new British PM Burnham but criticizes Chagos Islands agreement JILL LAWLESS CAMEROON, CAMEROON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PUBLISHED 35 MINUTES AGO Open this photo in gallery: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham during the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters on Tuesday. JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Freshly in office, Prime Minister Andy Burnham got off to a strong start with U.S. President Donald Trump at their first meeting on Tuesday, with the president brushing aside differences over the Middle East and calling the British leader “a natural business person.” The two men met for more than the scheduled 30 minutes on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, which Burnham is due to address later in the day. It’s a baptism of fire for the neophyte leader, who has gone from mayor of the northwest England city of Manchester to leader of a G7 country in a matter of weeks. But despite U.K. nerves about how it would go, as they sat in front of U.K. and U.S. flags, Trump declared that trans-Atlantic relations were “more up than they were with your last prime minister.” “Based on our relationship with the prime minister, Andy, I think we’re doing very well,” he said. Trump defends Iran war in address to UN General Assembly U.K. officials know that the president can be fickle. Trump initially warmed to Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, before falling out over the U.K.’s unwillingness to join the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. But there was relief that Burnham emerged largely unscathed from his first meeting with a president who once dismissed him as “the mayor of a town.” “We don’t hold it against you,” Burnham said. Burnham nodded at U.S.-U.K. differences, noting that Trump had been “good enough to listen to us” on issues including trade and the Falkland Islands. Trump has recently mused about the future of the British-controlled South Atlantic archipelago, which is also claimed by Argentina, which calls it the Malvinas. The two nations fought a brief 1982 war over the islands. But on one potential flashpoint, the U.K.’s decision to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Trump professed ignorance. Trump’s harshest words were reserved for Britain’s plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in the Indian…