Donald Trump has offered a surprise olive branch to the UK government, praising Keir Starmer for doing a “very good job thus far”.

The US President, who began his second term on January 20, insisted he has a “very good relationship” with Sir Keir Starmer, despite a close ally and world’s richest man Elon Musk unleashing a torrent of criticism for the PM, and calling for him to be replaced.

Speaking to the BBC on Air Force One, Trump said the two world leaders the pair are set to have a phone call “over the next 24 hours”.

During a visit to the presidential plane’s press room, Trump told the broadcaster: “I get along with him well. I like him a lot.

“He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me, but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far.

“He’s represented his country in terms of philosophy,” he said, adding: “I may not agree with his philosophy, but I have a very good relationship with him.”

Trump also said the UK was in consideration for his first international trip since returning to the White House.

He said: “It could be Saudi Arabia, it could be UK. Traditionally it could be UK.”

The pair have already met on several occasions, with Sir Keir visiting the Trump Tower ahead of the election.

Starmer and Trump spoke on the phone following Trump’s election win, with both leaders agreeing the “incredible strong” relationship between the two nations would “continue to thrive”, Downing Street said.

It comes despite the PM facing a number of diplomatic headaches between the two nations.

It’s not yet clear whether Trump will agree to the UK’s proposed deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which has been used as a joint US-UK military base since the 1970s.

However, the UK has said Trump’s administration will have the opportunity to “consider” the deal, as per BBC News.

It also remains to be seen whether Trump will accept Sir Keir’s nomination of Lord Peter Mandelson to be the new British ambassador to the US, with the co-manager of the President’s election campaign last month calling the former Labour minister “an absolute moron”, and insisting he should “stay home”.

Meanwhile, Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter, has been deeply critical of the UK government in a series of recent posts on the social media platform, and has called for Starmer to be replaced.

Speaking ahead of Trump’s inauguration UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the “strength” relationship between the two countries meant he was “very confident” Sir Keir would secure meeting with the President early on.

Following the swearing in ceremony at the US Capitol, Lammy indicated Sir Keir would visit Washington within weeks.