British prime minister Theresa May sweeps into Washington, D.C. Friday as the first foreign leader to meet with President Donald Trump. Just one week after his inauguration, Trump will welcome May at the White House and the two will hold a joint press conference before engaging in a “working lunch.”
According to AFP, May has received criticism in London for hopping across the pond so early in Trump’s presidency:
On Thursday, May spoke at the Republican party retreat in Philadelphia and hailed Trump’s victory as echoing the “hopes and aspirations of working men and women across this land.” She went on to praise the GOP House and Senate victories as well and told the assembled Republicans “America can be stronger, greater and more confident in the years ahead,” due to their electoral success.
She then proclaimed that America is poised to return to a leadership role in the world and volunteered that Britain was eager to join the effort:
May went on to detail Britain’s robust (compared to other European nations) investment in national security and the several military endeavors her nation has embarked upon. But she warned against engaging with the U.S. in any “failed” foreign wars in the future. “The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over. But nor can we afford to stand idly by when the threat is real and when it is in our own interests to intervene,” she said.
May also reinforced the ideological principals Republicans and her Conservative party have in common.
“I speak to you not just as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but as a fellow conservative who believes in the same principles that underpin the agenda of your party,” May said. “The value of liberty. The dignity of work. The principles of nationhood, family, economic prudence, patriotism—and putting power in the hands of the people.
“I know that it is these principles that you have put at the heart of your plan for government.”
