It was the big moment that Theresa May had been waiting for, as she was invited into the Oval Office as the first foreign leader to visit the new US President Donald Trump.

But when she arrived, there was another British Prime Minister already there - in the shape of the famous bust of Sir Winston Churchill.

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The bust has been at the heart of a long simmering diplomatic spat, with disgruntled British media accusing Mr Trump's predecessor Barack Obama of removing it as a snub, while the White House insisted it had just been moved to another room.

One of Mr Trump's first acts as president was to put it back in pride of place, in what Downing Street hopes is a sign of a deeper special relationship.

And he was eager to show it off to his British visitor, telling Mrs May it was "a great honour to have Winston Churchill back".

Shaking hands with Mr Trump, a smiling PM responded: "Thank you, Mr President, we were very pleased you accepted it back."

The bust was not the only change Mr Trump made to the Oval Office decor when he arrived at the White House last week.

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He also replaced Obama's crimson curtains with golden ones - perhaps to remind him of his favoured colour scheme in his home in New York. But the touch of gold was far removed from the bling of Trump Tower, with portraits of great past presidents lining the walls and maintaining its air of history and decorum despite the glitzy style of its new occupant.

And the bust of Martin Luther King, which had taken Churchill's place, remained gazing over at him from the other side of the room.

Mr Trump himself already had the air of the owner, getting a flunky to move a large table lamp so the cameras could get a better view.

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As for Mrs May, dressed in a bright red two piece suit by Amanda Wakeley, she seemed delighted to be there, even if she could be forgiven for being a little apprehensive about the hour long chat ahead of her.