By Kate Nicholson

Copyright huffingtonpost

Keir Starmer’s team will be breathing an almighty sigh of relief after the prime minister’s joint press conference with Donald Trump passed without (too much) of a hitch this afternoon.

Although the president was given an “unprecedented” second state visit complete with several new honours – like the largest military guard display in modern memory – there were plenty of contentious issues which could have fractured their surprising friendship, had Trump been feeling mercurial.

For instance, the UK’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood after Trump’s departure could have caused a major rupture, as it’s something the US is not on board with.

The US president did say “I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score – one of our few disagreements, actually” – and called for the release of the remaining 48 Hamas hostages immediately.

But, Starmer reminded the crowd that he and Trump do “absolutely agree on the need for peace and a roadmap because the situation in Gaza is intolerable”.

The anti-Trump protests which swept into London on Wednesday also did not get a mention.

The topic of free speech, which Trump’s vice-president JD Vance claims is an issue in the UK, was also carefully managed.

Starmer even extended his condolences to Trump after one of his prominent supporters, right-wing commentator and free speech activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated last week.

But he reiterated that free speech has “long lived in the country” and is “one of the founding values of the United Kingdom”.

He also defended the controversial Online Safety Act, saying he draws “a limit between free speech and the speech of those who want to peddle paedophilia and suicide”.

One of the more eyebrow-raising moments came when the president suggested Starmer call in the military to deal with the surge in immigration across the English Channel – a deeply unpopular policy he recently employed in parts of the States.

But the prime minister just reminded him of the new “one in, one out” deal the UK has with France.

Trump also seemed more aligned with the UK over Ukraine, admitting that Vladimir Putin has “let him down”.

There was only one tricky question about the recent sacking of former US ambassador Peter Mandelson over his links to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – who was a mutual friend of Trump’s, too.

Though the president was asked if he had “any sympathy” with Mandelson for losing his job, Trump replied: “I don’t know him, actually.”

The president did, in fact, know Mandelson and even took questions from the press with him in the Oval Office back in May after the UK and US reached a trade agreement – but his deft handling the query meant Starmer could avoid the sticky subject by offering the same stock answers he gave last week.

“It’s pretty straightforward – some information came to light last week that wasn’t available when he was appointed and I made a decision about it and that’s very clear,” the prime minister said.

Both leaders were also able to fall back on their newly declared “tech prosperity deal”, boasting that they had secured up to £250bn of new agreements during this short stay.

The fraught 48 hours will be seen as a much needed success within Downing Street, after a terrible start to the new parliamentary term for the prime minister where he has lost several members of his top team over separate scandals – prompting the largest crisis of his premiership to date.

The prime minister also insisted that he and Trump “genuinely like each other” – and, after this relatively smooth week, he almost certainly means it.