Friday briefing: Special relationships, unlikely ‘friendships’ – Trump’s state visit beyond the cliches

In today's newsletter: Never has so much flattery been bestowed upon a US president. But will the efforts of the prime minister and the king make a difference to the UK?

Good morning. Donald Trump has gone home, no doubt so thrilled by the Red Arrows and the chance to have dinner with Nick Faldo that he will enter the Oval Office this morning a changed man. Admittedly, at his Chequers press conference with Keir Starmer yesterday afternoon, the transformation hadn't entirely taken hold: Trump suggested, for example, that the UK should use the military to end the small boats crisis. But compared to his most chaotic unscripted appearances this year, it was tame enough an affair for Starmer to breathe a sigh of relief.

Can Starmer view the state visit as a success? It depends on how you're counting. 150bn new investment in the UK from US firms, a respite from his own domestic woes, and the chance to butter up a president who appears uniquely susceptible to servility are the prizes that Downing Street will boast about, in slightly different terms, in the days ahead.

Gaza | More than a quarter of a million people have been displaced from Gaza City in the last month, new figures from the UN reveal, with tens of thousands more forced to flee makeshift homes and shelters daily in the face of a new Israeli offensive.

UK news | The Bank of England has left interest rates on hold at 4% and will slow the pace of its quantitative tightening" programme in the year ahead to avoid distorting jittery government bond markets.

Immigration | The first Channel migrant has been deported to France under the controversial one in, one out deal, the Home Office has confirmed.

UK politics | An extraordinary split has opened between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana in the formation of their new leftwing party, with the former Labour leader suggesting he will take legal action over an unauthorised membership portal promoted by his co-leader.

US news | Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that TV networks which cover him negatively" could lose their licenses after his celebration of ABC suspending late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. Trump said that Kimmel was not a talented person" who had very bad ratings".