Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and United States President Donald Trump spoke on the phone on Sunday night and affirmed the deep and longstanding relationship between Singapore and America.
“They expressed satisfaction that ministers from both sides are already working with each other and looked forward to meeting each other soon,” said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that this was the second phone conversation between the two leaders.
The White House in a statement said the two leaders affirmed their commitment to the "close partnership", which is marked by "thriving trade and investment, robust security cooperation, and close collaboration on regional and global challenges".
"President Trump invited Prime Minister Lee to the White House to further strengthen ties," the White House added.
In his May Day Rally speech today, PM Lee said he had accepted the invitation and hoped to make the trip "sometime this year".
In December last year, Lee had called Trump to congratulate him on his win in the Presidential election, and invited the American President and his family to Singapore, and had spoken on “the close and longstanding” Singapore-US relations. He said, “We cooperate in many areas – economic, defence and security, education, and people-to-people. Our relations have endured through nine US Presidents.”
PM Lee further wrote a congratulatory letter to Trump in January noting that the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement has been a remarkable success, facilitating investments, increasing exports, and creating thousands of jobs in both countries.
“Over 20,000 American SMEs have benefited from bilateral trade, with the US consistently maintaining a trade surplus with Singapore. Asia will continue to drive global economic growth, and the growing middle class in South-east Asia provides exciting opportunities for further cooperation between American and Singaporean businesses.”