'Real good shape': Biden-Sunak hail ties at White House meet

United States President Joe Biden and United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have opened a White House meeting, hailing ties between the longtime allies as they prepared to discuss a wide range of topics, expected to include artificial intelligence (AI), trade, the war in Ukraine, China and NATO leadership. Sunak's office said the prime minister, on his first White House trip in the role, would present Biden on Thursday with relics of his English ancestry, including a copy of Biden's great-great-grandfather Christopher Biden's book Naval Discipline: Subordination Contrasted with Insubordination. Biden has both Irish and English heritage, and on a trip to Ireland in April described the book by the 19th-century sailor as the Royal Navy's guide to combating mutiny. "We will put our values front and centre to deliver for the British and American peoples," Sunak said at the start of his talks with Biden. Biden, meanwhile, described the "special" relationship between the two allies as "in real good shape".