Prime Minister Gordon Brown has dismissed talk that the historic Anglo-US alliance is fraying, as he met with President George W Bush and the three contenders vying to succeed Bush.
Bush agreed on the centrality of the US-British alliance and the White House saw no problem in Brown's extended talks with the three candidates - clear evidence of the president's lame-duck status in his final year in office.
Brown said he was "delighted" to have met Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Republican John McCain, before going on to talks at the White House during a low-key visit.
"What I was convinced of, after talking to each of them ... is that the relationship between America and Britain will remain strong, remain steadfast," the prime minister said today at a joint news conference with Bush.
Bush denied that transatlantic relations had frayed under Tony Blair's successor, insisting his relationship with Brown was "great" despite the prime minister's downgrading of the British military presence in southern Iraq.
Like Brown, Bush underlined the US-British endeavour in Iraq, Afghanistan and the struggle against extremism, which he called the "fundamental threat facing civilisation of the 21st century."
"So our relationship is very special and I am confident future presidents will keep it that way," said Bush, also valuing his "personal friendship" with Brown, which does not appear to come close to his warm alliance with Blair.
"If there wasn't a personal relationship, I wouldn't be inviting the man to a nice hamburger," Bush said ahead of a social dinner with Brown and the two leaders' wives.
The two leaders found common ground on the need to prevent Iran going nuclear, on Zimbabwe's elections, on Burma and on Darfur, while pledging to step up US-British links in higher education.
Both hailed progress in Iraq despite a recent upsurge in violence around the southern city of Basra, where British troops have withdrawn to rear bases despite US misgivings.
