Picture: Obama after meeting Brown - what is he thinking?

Gordon Brown moved to put the special relationship on a stronger footing yesterday, lavishing praise on President Bush and meeting the three presidential hopefuls, including Barack Obama for the first time.

During a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, Mr Brown signalled that he had become much more personally comfortable with that President than on his first visit as Prime Minister last July.

He paid tribute to Mr Bush for leading the fight against global terrorism and described him as pioneering and ambitious, reinforcing the impression that Mr Brown was using the trip to try to build a stronger “bridge to America” in the mould of his predecessor, Tony Blair.

Last year when Mr Brown met the President at Camp David shortly after taking over as Prime Minister, he surprised many by hinting at disagreements and talking about their “full and frank” exchanges.

Yesterday there appeared to be no such awkwardness, with President Bush, calling him a good friend and strong leader and insisting that the special relationship was strong.

“If it wasn’t a personal relationship I wouldn’t be inviting him to enjoy a nice hamburger,” the President said before a private dinner last night.

Both Mr Brown and Mr Bush gave warning that Iran still posed a huge threat to the world, with the President calling it “untrustworthy” and the Prime Minister calling for greater sanctions. Earlier the pair talked about troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan and how to help the international economy and housing markets.

The meeting came after the three presidential contenders acknowledged the special relationship yesterday by interrupting their campaign programmes and travelling to Washington to meet Mr Brown.

The 45-minute meetings with the election contenders, in the drawing room of the residence in the British Embassy compound, were designed to show Mr Brown’s enthusiasm for the special relationship. The Prime Minister met them in the study of the residence before going through to the drawing room for the private sessions.

Barack Obama bonded over Winston Churchill, John McCain talked about Second World War generals, and Hillary Clinton cemented her relationship with Mr Brown by talking about her Welsh grandmother.

On seeing a picture of Churchill, Mr Obama told him about a visit to Downing Street shortly after becoming a senator, when he was allowed to sit in the Winston Churchill reading chair. Mr Obama is believed to be a distant relative of the wartime leader, according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Mrs Clinton chatted to Mr Brown about her Welsh grandmother. He replied that Wales had recently won the Six Nations rugby championship and she said that this would make her grandmother very proud. Mr McCain saw a painting of Field Marshal Montgomery by President Eisenhower, and spoke to Mr Brown about Second World War generals.

During the formal discussions, Mr Brown talked to the candidates about Iraq, Iran, world security and climate change. He is also thought to have raised fears about greater US protectionism, which has become an election campaign theme.

The event was a coup for Mr Brown and a diplomatic triumph for the Embassy. Kevin Rudd, the new Australian Prime Minister, secured only a telephone conversation with Mr Obama while President Sarkozy saw only Mrs Clinton during his visit.

Mr Brown is understood to have arranged for his meetings yesterday to be one-to-one, so that he could talk to the three “unencumbered by the presence of advisers and hangers-on”.

Mr Brown said “I am absolutely confident that having talked to the three candidates the special relationship between our two countries is strong and secure and valued by all of them.

Julianne Smith, director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ Europe programme, said that the meeting was “ remarkable”.

“Few foreign leaders could secure these kinds of meetings in the middle of a campaign. That speaks to how the candidates view relations with Britain,” she said.

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