UK prime minister Keir Starmer meets US president Donald Trump at the White House

UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has met with US president Donald Trump at the White House, where the US president lives and works.

Although the two have met before, this is the prime minister's first visit to the White House since Trump won the 2024 US Presidential Election.

He is the sixth world leader to visit President Trump since he came into office.

The two world leaders met in private to talk about key issues facing both countries such as trade and the war in Ukraine.

They then spoke in front of the cameras in a press conference, where journalists from the US and the UK asked questions about what had been discussed.

Read on to find out what we learned…

'Truly historic' invitation from King Charles III for Trump

As the two world leaders began their discussion, Sir Keir presented Mr Trump with a letter from King Charles III inviting him to the UK for a state visit.

A state visit is a formal visit where monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to meet the King - it is the highest level of international visit, and its purpose is to confirm the good relationship between the countries concerned.

After taking a minute to read the letter, Mr Trump said he accepted the invitation, and that it would be an "honour" to visit the "fantastic" country.

He added that King Charles was a "beautiful man, a wonderful man".

Sir Keir said the invitation was "unprecedented" and "truly historic", the first time that a US president has been invited to a second state visit.

Mr Trump's first visit took place in 2019, during his first term as president, where he met King Charles's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, during a three-day trip.

Tariffs and trade

Trade between the two countries was high on the list of things to discuss.

That's because earlier this month, Mr Trump had announced that he planned to bring in tariffs – a type of tax - on goods coming into the US from Canada, Mexico and China.

He also said it was likely that he would put tariffs on imports from the European Union.

This left people wondering whether the policy might impact trade with the UK, and this was a tricky and important topic for the prime minister to discuss with Mr Trump at their meeting,

After their conversation, Mr Trump confirmed the two countries could reach a trade deal "very quickly" and that there was "a very good chance" this would see the UK avoiding these tariffs.

"He's a tough negotiator," Mr Trump joked, saying that the prime minister had worked "very hard" to reach a deal.

Talks about Ukraine

Another big topic of discussion was around Ukraine.

Both leaders said that they wanted peace and were willing to work together.

In the news conference, Mr Trump described Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as "very brave" and saying the pair got on "really well".

But last week, Mr called President Zelensky a "dictator" in a social media post.

A dictator is a political leader who has complete power and control of a country, and has not been elected.

Asked about this comment at the press conference, Mr Trump replied: "Did I say that? I can't believe I would say that."

Talking about the potential for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, Trump said "progress towards peace" would continue when Zelensky visits the White House on Friday. The two are expected to sign an important deal around access to Ukraine's minerals.

What Trump and Starmer said about each other

Speaking in front of reporters, Mr Trump called the prime minister "a very, very special person," and talked about the US and the UK having "a special relationship, like no other, passed down through centuries".

Talking about the future of the two countries, Trump said: "We're keen to keep it that way. We're going to keep it very strong, as it is."

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer praised Donald Trump for his role in working towards peace in Ukraine, saying that he had "created a moment of tremendous opportunity".

"This has been a very good and very productive visit," he said, adding, "It's good to know that the UK has a true friend in the Oval Office."