UK politics latest: Burnham set for first meeting with Trump at UN summit in New York

Andy Burnham will meet Donald Trump for the first time as world leaders gather in New York .

The prime minister and the US president will hold talks on Tuesday in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, which will see discussions on wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the rapid development of AI .

The two leaders have held phone calls but this will be their first in-person meeting.

The prime minister brushed off any suggestion that his previous criticisms of the president and Mr Trump’s unpredictability would make it a diplomatically awkward challenge.

Mr Burnham said he could “trust” the US president and the special relationship was as strong as ever.

Speaking to The Independent on his way to New York, he said: “When you come into this job, you realise how deep this relationship is.

Asked if he trusted Mr Trump personally the prime minister replied: “Yes.”

It comes as Mr Burnham confirmed Britain will provide military support to Saudi Arabia to counter attacks by Iran-backed Houthis and protect energy supplies.

The prime minister’s first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump will take place in the margins of the UN gathering as the Ministry of Defence stepped up co-operation with American counterparts on the next generation of drones and artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Mr Burnham’s previous criticism of the president and Mr Trump’s unpredictability, recent comments about Irish unification and hostility to UK immigration and clean energy policies make it a diplomatically awkward challenge for the Prime Minister.

Mr Burnham said he could “trust” the US president and the special relationship was as strong as ever.

He said: “When you come into this job, you realise how deep this relationship is.

Asked if he trusted Mr Trump personally, the prime minister replied: “Yes.”

Andy Burnham will insist the UK is not “on the slide” and attempt to draw a line under 10 years of post-Brexit turbulence as he makes his United Nations debut as prime minister.