U.S. President Donald Trump is arranging to meet soon with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, two long-standing U.S. allies concerned about how his presidency will affect their relationships with Washington.

Trump will meet on Friday with May in Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Saturday.

The meeting will be an opportunity for May, who initially struggled to build relations with Trump's transition team, to discuss what has long been termed the "special relationship" between the two nations, a central pillar of Britain's foreign policy.

Trump, who endorsed the British vote to leave the European Union and is friends with May critic Nigel Farage, has said he wants to arrange a swift bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom.

May's office declined comment.

Trade will also be part of the agenda for Trump's meeting with Pena Nieto along with immigration and security, Spicer told reporters. The leaders spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed meeting on Jan. 31, he said.

Trump has said he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994 with Canada and Mexico, in order to improve terms for U.S. workers.

Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke by phone on Saturday and discussed setting up "additional meetings in the days to come," Spicer said.

(Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington and Stephen Addison in London; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler)

Source:
courtesy of REUTERS

by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton

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