Trump and Burnham meet at UN, praising ties despite AI and Iran rifts

President Donald Trump praised his relationship with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham as stronger than under predecessor Keir Starmer, despite tensions over AI regulation, the Chagos Islands, and the Iran conflict, during their first face-to-face meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York. Trump called Burnham a "natural businessperson" and a potential "great" prime minister, while Burnham, joined by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, sought to de-escalate the Iran war and push for global AI standards. Trump reiterated threats to "annihilate" Iran and rejected AI regulation as a "hoax," also criticizing the UK's Chagos Islands deal. Burnham aims for the UK to be an "honest broker" on AI, facing pressure to back a safety-testing initiative for AI models, while Trump dismissed such controls. Trump also avoided commenting on UK trade bans with West Bank settlements and agreed to raise the case of Hong Kong dissident Jimmy Lai with China's Xi Jinping.