Obama calls new UK Prime Minister Theresa May

by TheHill.com - 07/14/16 12:56 PM ET

President Obama on Thursday called new British Prime Minister Theresa May to congratulate her on becoming the country’s leader, according to the White House.

Obama told May he looks forward to working with her over the next six months to strengthen ties between the two traditional allies.

{mosads}“The president reiterated our oft-stated commitment to not just protecting, but deepening the special relationship,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

May formally took over Wednesday for former Prime Minister David Cameron, who resigned his post following the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union.

The vote was a rebuke to Cameron and Obama, both of whom urged British citizens to vote to remain in the political and economic union.

May, like her Conservative Party predecessor, opposed the so-called Brexit. But she has pledged to honor the vote to leave the EU.

May ruffled feathers on both sides of the Atlantic on her first day in office by naming former London Mayor Boris Johnson as the U.K.’s top diplomat.

Johnson in April accused Obama of having an “ancestral dislike of the British empire” because of his “part-Kenyan” heritage.

Earnest stressed that Obama is committed to working with the new British leadership, saying the historic ties between the two nations “transcends any single personality.”

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