Bolton says US to 'move very quickly' on post-Brexit trade deal

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Monday that Washington wanted "to move very quickly" on a trade deal with Britain after it leaves the EU, and that the White House would wait until after Brexit to address various security concerns.

The hawkish White House aide spoke in London after becoming the most senior official from Donald Trump's administration to meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson since he succeeded Theresa May as UK government leader last month.

"We want to move very quickly. We wish we could have moved further along in this with the prior government" Bolton said of a potential trade deal.

The pair also addressed shared security concerns including an escalating Gulf standoff with Iran and Britain's decision on whether to use Chinese firm Huawei to help build its 5G network, against the wishes of the US.

"The message I wanted to convey on Iran, and on some other issues in which I include China, 5G, Huawei, that cluster of issues, is that the President and the US government fully understands that in the next few days the UK government has a singular focus on the Brexit issue," he said.

Bolton said he had received reassurances from Johnson that Britain was "concerned about not having any compromise in the security of telecommunications in the 5G space."