The New York Times and Politico reported that Trump was set to agree to a deal with Britain, citing multiple people familiar with the plans.

Yesterday, Trump had written that the “major trade deal” would be announced with a “big, and highly respected country”.

He said he would announce the deal at a 10am news conference in the Oval Office at the White House, and he touted the deal as the “first of many”.

Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners last month but temporarily froze most of them to allow for the negotiation of trade deals.

He has been claiming for weeks that countries were lining up to strike trade agreements with the US.

The Times said it was not clear whether a US trade deal with Britain had been finalised or if the two countries would announce a framework for an agreement that would be subject to further negotiation.

Britian earlier this week struck a free trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since leaving the EU, after negotiations relaunched in February following US tariff threats.

Britain has sought to bolster trade ties across the world since it left the EU at the start of the decade under Brexit, a need that became more pressing after the US unleashed tariffs that risk causing weaker economic growth.