Obama, Brown Firm Up 'Special Relationship'

Gordon Brown and President Obama met today, as Obama praised the “special relationship” between Britain and the US, the BBC reports. Obama said the ties between the two nations were “important to the American people” and would “only get stronger.” The British prime minister will address Congress tomorrow, and is expected to press lawmakers to remain committed to free trade despite the global downturn.

Brown, the first European leader to meet with the new president, spoke to Obama for about two hours in the White House. “I have come here to renew our special relationship for new times,” Brown told reporters. The prime minister said the US-UK partnership had gained a special purpose because of “the need for all of us to work together to deal with the world's economic problems.” (More Barack Obama stories.)