US President Donald Trump Criticizes Chagos Deal

Prime Minister Andy Burnham and US President Donald Trump met in person for the first time at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Trump said UK-US relations are 'more up now' than ever after their meeting, following discussions on issues such as trade and immigration.

Burnham had US President Donald Trump criticized the proposed Chagos Islands deal, stating that it is 'terrible' and that he can do business with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Trump said that the UK-US relations are 'more up now' than ever after their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Burnham had expressed a good connection with Trump, saying they had taken their discussions further today following bilateral talks on issues such as trade and immigration.

Trump reiterated his criticism of the Chagos Islands deal, stating that it is 'strategically very important' for US operations in Iran, particularly in relation to military base Diego Garcia on the archipelago's largest island.

The agreement would see the UK cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius and pay an average of £101m ($136m) per year to lease back the military base, but it was paused indefinitely due to Trump pulling his support in April.

Burnham said he is not embarrassed about hoax message exchange with Nigel Farage, a reform UK leader who has long been a critic of the deal.

Trump and Burnham met on Tuesday as they attended the United Nations for the annual gathering of world leaders. Following bilateral talks, Burnham sat alongside Trump and used his opening remarks to say: 'You and I have established a good connection in our early discussions and we've taken that further today. ' The two men then faced questions shouted from the assembled press pack.

Asked by the BBC if Burnham was a man he could do business with, Trump said: 'Yeah I do, I think he's a natural businessperson, we've had a lot of discussions even before this meeting we've spoken to each other numerous times on the phone. ' Yeah, I think so, he gets it, he understands what he has to do.

The US president added that the UK is a country with 'great patriotism', and he thinks it is 'waiting for good leadership, waiting for success'. But Trump reiterated his criticism of the Chagos Islands deal and stressed how a joint UK-US military base on the archipelago's largest island, Diego Garcia, is 'strategically very important'.

Speaking on Tuesday, Trump said: 'I think the prime minister is going to be looking at [the deal].

The prime minister had spoken to his Mauritian