Tillerson: Sometimes we forget importance of US-UK relationship

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday that the United States needs to pay attention to its relationship with the U.K. despite ongoing issues in other parts of the world.

“We spend a lot of time talking about the world’s problems, whether it’s North Korea, Syria or Yemen. And sometimes we forget about the importance of our own relationship,” Tillerson said, standing next to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. 

“We need to pay attention to that relationship and the importance of this relationship on a bilateral basis as well,” Tillerson added. 

“the relationship between the US and the UK is absolutely fundamental to our diplomacy but also our economy”@BorisJohnson welcomes @StateDept Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to London pic.twitter.com/yT2i2kd5Ty

— Foreign Office (@foreignoffice) January 22, 2018

{mosads}Tillerson met Monday with Johnson and Prime Minister Theresa May, Reuters reported. 

Tillerson and May discussed the future of the Iran nuclear deal, and Tillerson visited the recently opened U.S. Embassy in London, Reuters reported.

The U.S.-U.K. relationship has been rocky at times under the Trump administration. Trump drew criticism from several British leaders when he shared a video from a far-right British political group purporting to show violence committed by Muslims.

May also criticized Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, calling the decision “unhelpful.”

Trump earlier this month said he canceled his trip to London for the opening of the new embassy because it was part of a bad real estate deal.

While Trump blamed the Obama administration, the move to relocate the embassy to Nine Elms dated back to 2008, when then-President George W. Bush’s State Department announced it had purchased the property.