Asked if he had plans to visit Spain he replied: “Yes.  I will go to Spain.  I will be going to Spain.  Yes.”

The bilateral meeting between the US President and Spain’s head of State took place in Washington DC on Tuesday.

While the two men talked in the Oval Office, Melania Trump sat with Queen Letizia and took tea.

Trump told King Felipe: “Well, thank you very much.  It’s a great honor to have the King and Queen of Spain, a beautiful country.  We were in Spain not so long ago, and we love it.  Very special people and a beautiful place,” according to a transcript of the meeting released by the White House.

“And our relationship has been outstanding over the years and, I think, especially right now.  Excellent trade relationship, military relationship.  Just about everything you can have.  So we love Spain.  And it’s really a tremendous honor to have you both at the Oval Office.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” replied the Spanish King.  “I’d like to, first of all, thank you for your time.  As you know, we had a visit around the country.  We were visiting Texas and Louisiana.  And this is a great end to a perfect visit.

“We appreciate very much our common history, our heritage.  So many years that we’ve shared.  And we like to use that as a good benchmark for our very excellent relationships that we enjoy today.

“As you said, that there’s so many issues of common interest, of sharing the efforts in many areas.  But as well, I think there’s one basic common issue, which is our value for democracy.”

To which Trump piped up: “That’s true”.

The two then went on to hold private talks.

It was the second visit by the Spanish monarch to the White House since he took the throne after the abdication of King Juan Carlos in June 2014.

In September 2015, King Felipe was invited to the White House by President Barack Obama where Queen Letizia was given a tour of the kitchen garden by the First Lady.

The royal pair also visited New Orleans in Lousiana and San Antonio, Texas as part of the tricentennial celebrations of the cities which once formed part of the Spanish empire.