'She's so fantastic, I hope...': Trump's praise for EU chief just a tactic in tariff talks?

US President Donald Trump heaped praises on European Union chief and said he hoped to meet "fantastic" Ursula von der Leyen. This prompted a quirky reply from Leyen who said she "likes compliments in general".

"She's so fantastic. I hope we're gonna meet," Trump told reporters as he unveiled a US-UK trade agreement on Thursday, his first deal with any country since he unleashed his global tariff blitz.

"The European Union's big thing, they wanna make a deal very badly. Everybody wants to make a deal with the United States, so we're doing that," Trump added.

ALSO READ: Trump gives big threat to stop barbie dolls in the US. His remarks create buzz online

How EU chief responded to Trump's remarks

When questioned about Trump's remarks, von der Leyen responded with a chuckle before shifting focus to more significant matters, stressing the need for a negotiated resolution. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, the European Commission president noted that she had "good conversations" with Trump both over the phone and during the pope's funeral last month.

"But for me, it's important that if I go to the White House, I want to have a package we can discuss. So it has to be concrete, and I want to have a solution that we both can agree on. That is the work we're doing right now," she added.

US-EU tariff deal

Several countries have lined up to hold talks with Washington to avert the worst of Trump's duties, which range from 10 percent to as high as 145 percent on China -- Trump's main target. The US president announced a 20-percent tariff on most EU goods in April, along with higher duties on dozens of other nations, but has since frozen the measure until July.

ALSO READ: US Education secretary blasted for embarrassing grammatical errors in threatening letter to Harvard

But he maintained a "baseline" 10-percent tariff on imports from around the world, including the 27-nation EU. Trump said the British deal would be the first of many, and that he hoped difficult talks with the EU -- as well as China -- could soon produce results too.

Britain had made a major push to avoid Trump's tariffs, which the Republican insists are necessary to stop the United States from being "ripped off" by other countries.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a charm offensive as early as February when he came to the White House armed with an invitation from King Charles III for a historic second state visit for Trump.

ALSO READ: 'No Kings Day': Why Trump's expensive DC birthday military parade will face massive protest across 30 US states

The reward came with the trade deal slashing export tariffs for British cars, which Britain said would fall from 27.5 percent to 10 percent.

Meanwhile, the EU is considering imposing tariffs on US aircraft and car exports in a fresh attempt to persuade Donald Trump to drop his current and proposed tariffs against the EU, reported The Guardian.

(With AFP inputs)