Trump and May pledge commitment to Nato

US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Theresa May have pledged their commitment to the Nato alliance following talks at the White House.

May confirmed that Trump was “100% behind Nato”, despite his recent comments that called the transatlantic alliance obsolete. May also announced that Trump had accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth for a state visit to the UK later this year.

The two leaders both said that they would work to establish trade negotiation agreements. Although the UK cannot start negotiations until it leaves the EU, Trump said that he wants a “quick” deal after that.

When asked about his scheduled phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Trump played down any suggestion that he would lift US sanctions against the Kremlin.

“It’s very early to be talking about that,” he told reports during a press conference, adding that having a “great relationship” with countries like Russia and China “would be a positive, not a negative”.

Meanwhile, May stood firm with the EU’s stance on sanctions that are in place against Russia. 

“We have been very clear that we want to see the Minsk agreement fully implemented,” she said, adding that sanctions would continue until this is achieved.

Trump also said that he would defer to Defence Secretary and retired general James Mattis on whether the US would reinstate waterboarding as an interrogation technique.

He said that Mattis does not “necessarily believe” in waterboarding and other interrogation techniques, which critics claim amounts to torture.

“I don’t necessarily agree, but I would tell you that he will override because I’m giving [Mattis] that power,” he said. “I happen to feel that it does work. I’ve been open about that for a long period of time. But I am going with our leaders.”