Stephen Nulty 10:52 am on July 13, 2018
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Friday 13 July 2018 – Trump interview threatens post-Brexit UK-US trade deal

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If Theresa May hoped that Donald Trump wouldn’t say something on his visit to the UK that would add to her problems in implementing Brexit then today she will be deeply disappointed.  Donald Trump, speaking in an interview in The Sun newspaper while he was in Brussels for the NATO summit, has thrown Mrs May’s plans for Brexit into even deeper chaos.  Mr Trump, who has expressed support for Brexit claimed that he gave Theresa May advice on how she should implement Brexit, but that she had ignored him and moved towards a so-called soft Brexit.  The President said that any attempts from the UK to maintain close ties with the EU post-Brexit would probably destroy its chances of a lucrative trade deal with the United States.  Trump said: “If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the UK, so it will probably kill the deal.” 


It has always been obvious that the United States and other non-EU countries would prefer to deal with the EU bloc and that trade deals with the UK would always be treated as of secondary importance.  Trade between the UK and the US is vital to both countries, but post-Brexit it is clear that the United States isn’t going to put the UK ahead of the EU – something which even President Obama made clear when he visited the UK during the referendum campaign and told the UK of the importance of it remaining in the European Union.  President Obama’s intervention outraged many and backfired by giving additional impetus to the Brexit campaigners who were angered at his intervention.  Mr Trump’s intervention, however, has the potential of even greater significance and has the ability to throw the Government and its Brexit plan into complete disarray. The egotistical President Trump is clearly annoyed that Mrs May has ignored his advice, describing it as “very unfortunate” that she has gone the “opposite way,” adding that “if they do that, then the trade deal with the US will probably not be made.”

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Photos: Theresa May with Donald Trump, Melanie Trump and her husband Philip May

Donald Trump has further added to Mrs May’s woes by praising her former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.  Mr Johnson resigned from the Cabinet earlier this week after disagreeing with the so-called unanimous decision to accept Mrs May’s Brexit plan at a Cabinet meeting last week.  The Brexit Secretary David Davis also resigned in protest.  Both men said that they couldn’t support the plan, which you can read more about HERE.  On Boris Johnson, Donald Trump said that he would “make a great Prime Minister.” The President said: “I was very saddened to see he was leaving government and I hope he goes back in at some point. I think he is a great representative for your country. Well I am not pitting one against the other. I am just saying I think he would be a great Prime Minister. I think he’s got what it takes. I think he’s got the right attitude to be a great Prime Minister”


The President, who has recently imposed trade tariffs on the European Union, as well as on Canada, Mexico and China, said that: “We have enough difficulty with the European Union. We are cracking down right now on the European Union because they have not treated the United States fairly on trading. No, if they do that I would say that would probably end a major trade relationship with the United States.”  Mr Trump is clearly trying to impose his own ideology upon the trading partners of the United States and is punishing them when they don’t fall in line and acquiesce to him.  Mrs May seemed to believe that the UK would be treated differently and she has pinned a great deal on this happening, claiming that a trade deal with the US will be the foundation of a successful UK post-Brexit. 

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Mr Trump, in his interview, also agreed with Boris Johnson’s speculation two weeks ago that if Mr Trump was in charge of implementing Brexit, he “would go in bloody hard.”  Mr Trump said: “He is right.”  The President added: “I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it but she didn’t agree, she didn’t listen to me. She wants to go a different route. I would actually say that she probably went the opposite way. And that is fine. She should negotiate the best way she knows how. But it is too bad what is going on.”  On the UK’s negotiations with the EU over Brexit, the President commented that he would be prepared to walk away, saying when asked if he would walk way: “Oh, absolutely. I think what is going on is very unfortunate. Too long. You know, deals that take too long are never good ones. When a deal takes so long, they never work out very well.”

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Mr Trump also argued that the UK Government’s Brexit plan is not what the public voted for in the referendum in 2016: “It was not the deal that was in the referendum. I have just been hearing this over the last three days. I know they have had a lot of resignations. So a lot of people don’t like it.”  Trump also took the opportunity to remind people that he predicted Brexit: “I predicted Brexit. I was cutting a ribbon for the opening of Turnberry [his golf course in Scotland] – you know they totally did a whole renovation, it is beautiful – the day before the Brexit vote. I said ‘Brexit will happen.’ The vote is going to go positive, because people don’t want to be faced with the horrible immigration problems that they are faced with in other countries.  You remember that Barack Obama said that there is no way it is going to happen, and the UK will get to the back of the line if it ever does, right? I said Brexit will happen, and I was right.”  Trump didn’t predict Brexit.  The moment he is talking about at Turnberry took place the day after the Brexit referendum when the Leave result was by then known.

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President Trump’s interference in the Brexit implementation is potentially devastating for Mrs May’s plan, which was published yesterday.  It is also a boost for those like Boris Johnson who favour a hard Brexit that would sever close ties with the European Union.  It may also boost Boris’s chances of contesting Mrs May for the leadership of the Conservative Party and Premiership if he chooses to.  He hasn’t yet done this yet and may never do so, but it is clear that Johnson has had a long-standing desire to lead the Conservatives and to be Prime Minister.  Whether Johnson contends for the the top job or not, Mrs May now faces a huge fight to implement her Brexit plan – with just eight months before the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.

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TRUMP ON BREXIT (source)

  • In May 2016, before the EU referendum, he said he thought the UK was “better off without” the European Union

  • “I’m not making that as a recommendation, just my feeling,” he said, describing the migration crisis as a “horrible thing for Europe” and blaming the EU for driving it.

  • In August 2016, after the UK had voted to leave, he tweeted: “They will soon be calling me Mr Brexit!”

  • In January 2017, shortly after becoming president, he gave an interview to Tory MP Michael Gove – a prominent Leave campaigner and former journalist – saying: “I think Brexit is going to end up being a great thing.”

  • Also in that interview, the president said the EU was “a vehicle for Germany” and that the UK was “so smart in getting out”.

  • And asked why thought the UK voted to leave, he said that “people don’t want to have other people coming in and destroying their country”

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Photos: Theresa May and Donald Trump at Chequers this morning

Despite the interference by Trump, the Government is insisting that the UK visit from the President is going well and Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan said that things had “moved on”  since the interview – which took place before he came to the UK yesterday – and that it was “very early days for the detailed negotiations on any trade deal.”  Sir Alan insisted that last night’s dinner at Blenheim Palace was “fantastically positive and it did indeed focus a lot on trade.”  It is not clear if they were aware of the interview at the time of the dinner but Sir Alan dismissed the comments: “Donald Trump is a controversialist. That’s his style.”

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Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry pointed out that the Prime Minister had done “everything she could to be nice to him and he has slagged her off in the press. This is not the way to behave and then what does she do, she holds his hand again. She should be standing up to him.”  Ms Thornberry is referring to a brief moment when Mr Trump took Mrs May’s hand as they walked up steps outside Blenheim Palace.  When Mrs May paid Trump a visit in Washington in February 2017 she was criticised for walking hand-in-hand with the President outside the White House.

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Photo: Trump and May at Chequers for talks

Ahead of today’s meeting at Chequers President Trump insisted that his relationship with Theresa May was “very, very strong” and that “we have a very good relationship.”  Mrs May said that: “We’re going to  discuss the real opportunities we’ve got for a fantastic trade deal when we leave the European Union.”  A spokeswoman for Mrs May added that the Prime Minister will have a chance to  bring Mr Trump “up to speed” on the Brexit negotiations at their Chequers meeting and said: “We are confident we can do a good trade deal with the US.”  The BBC’s Laura Kuensberg, however, tweeted that when Mrs May was asked about Mr Trump’s interview, her face suggested she “looked like she’d rather be on another planet.”

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Photo: the baby blimp which flew over Westminster for two hours this morning

Mr Trump has also attacked London Mayor Sadiq Khan again, following his spats with him in the past – including criticising him after the London Bridge terror attack when he took the Mayor’s comments out of context to claim he was dismissing the threat of terrorism.  In his interview with The Sun, Trump renewed his attacks over Mayor Khan’s response to terror attacks and said he was doing “a terrible job” and blamed the Mayor for the rise of crime in London.  He said: “You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job. Take a look at the terrorism that is taking place. Look at what is going on in London. I think he has done a very bad job on terrorism.”  President Trump also mentioned the ‘baby blimp’ in his interview, suggesting it and the mass protests made him feel unwelcome – which was precisely their point.  Mayor Khan authorised to be flown over London in protest at Trump’s UK visit, the President is thought to be upset by the caricature of him.  The blimp portrays the President as a baby, wearing a nappy, with tiny hands – one of which is holding a mobile phone as a reference to his use of Twitter.  On the protests, the President said in his interview: “I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to  go to London. I used to love London as a city. I haven’t been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?”

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On the President’s renewed attacks on him, Mayor Khan (above) said: “It takes two to tango, and I’m not tweeting President Trump or saying beastly things about him.”  Mr Khan also questioned why Trump was attacking him and not other British Mayors, or Mayors in other European cities, that have experienced terrorism.  Although he didn’t suggest that it was because he was a Muslim, this is clearly a problem to President Trump.  Labour MP David Lammy accused Trump of being a “racist,” Tweeting: “I will call it like it is. The real reason Trump blames my friend @SadiqKhan for the terror attacks last year is simple. He hates that London chose a Muslim mayor. The President is racist. He does not deserve to meet our Queen today #StopTrump.”


Mayor Khan spoke further about Mr Trump’s interference in Brexit and how the Government should respond: “I’m quite clear that both the UK and the US have a special relationship that means we stand shoulder to shoulder at times of adversity. But at times when we think the other side is not meeting the high standards we expect of each other we shouldn’t be afraid of calling them out – that’s like having a best mate. I think our Prime Minister should have the confidence to speak to the US President on equal terms and it’s for President Trump to say what he wants about me; I’m not going to rise to President Trump’s views.”

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Mr Trump’s visit continues today.  As I write this post he is having talks with Theresa May, the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and others at the Prime Minister’s official country retreat Chequers. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting after Trump’s interview with The Sun.  Later this afternoon the President will have tea at an hour-long meeting with the Queen at Windsor Castle and has – or will – accompany the Prime Minister to a Special Forces’ anti-terror exercise.  As for Melanie Trump, she was photographed (below) taking in a game of bowls with Philip May, the husband of Theresa May.  This evening the Trumps will travel to Scotland to Trump’s golf course at Turnberry where he will spend tomorrow on a private visit.  When he leaves the UK he is going on to Helsinki in Finland where he is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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SOME COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE TAKING PART IN PROTESTS (source)

Kate, in Sheffield: “I try and teach my children compassion, honesty, respect and integrity – I’ll be marching because one of the most important people in the world, and a supposed role model, ignores all of that and expects to go unchallenged. My five year old is too young to understand immigration policy, party politics or international relations, and I won’t be telling him Donald Trump is evil or anything like that. But I have told him that lots of people think Trump is a bully, and if my little boy can experience thousands of people standing up to a bully I think that will be an invaluable lesson.”

Ann Dunn, 67, from Midloathian in Scotland: “Trump is an easy target to poke fun at, but he’s a dangerous man. He’s ignorant, intolerant, greedy and powerful and that makes him a serious threat to our democracy. He’s treating world trade as if he’s sitting in the boardroom and he doesn’t understand or care that democratic governments don’t work that way. I have to stand up and be counted. This presidency will end in tears and I want to be able to say I did something, however small. My banner will say “your mother would be disappointed in you”.

Mary Melnyk, 63, a Canadian/UK citizen living in Glasgow: “I’ll be at the protest here because of Trump’s demeaning tactics, his mocking of disabled people, treatment of gays in the military and of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, and because of his lies and his misogynist and racist rants. How can he be an ally when his own country is being destroyed by his actions and he is blaming everyone else? If Syria or North Korea’s leaders were to visit, I would do the same. He is deserving of the protests and the blimp and should, on a humanitarian level, look at his past and present actions as a president to understand why this is being done.”

John Kerridge, 57, in Bristol: “It’s important to take part because if you stand on the sideline, you’re part of the problem. I want my children and young people everywhere to get a better life. I was part of Rock against Racism in the 70s and 80s, and I don’t want this sort of populist politics. There were 5-6,000 people marching in Bristol city centre on Thursday and it was absolutely beautiful to see the faces of the Muslim community, who were going about their business, seeing mainly white protestors with their anti-fascist and anti-racist banners. You could see on their faces that they felt they weren’t alone.”

WHAT SOME BRITISH MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT SAID (source)

Sarah Gyimah (Conservative): “Where are your manners, Mr President?”

Margot James (Conservative Digital Minister): “No Mr President @Potus. Boris Johnson would make a terrible PM.”

Sarah Wollaston (Conservative): “And though of course Theresa May will continue to extend a very polite welcome to him in his capacity as president of the United States, I think she should pretty much tell him where he can stick his dog whistle.”

Anna Soubry (Conservative): “The more @realDonaldTrump insults and undermines @theresa_may the more he enhances her credibility. #Trump is a guest in #UK because we respect the great office he holds. Yet again he diminishes the standing of the great country he is meant to lead #USA #TrumpUK.”

Philip Hammond (Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer): “I know she’s looking forward to the opportunity to discuss with the president how we can take forward the big opportunities for increasing trade and investment between the UK and the United States that she mentioned last night during the dinner at Blenheim.”

Emily Thornberry (Labour, Shadow Foreign Secretary): “Donald Trump ought to have listened to his mother. I am assuming that his mum told him that when you go to someone’s house you do not insult the host.”

Sir Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat leader): “So @realDonaldTrump now chooses our leaders. Hardly a surprise we are treated like Panama or El Salvador when government grovels for favours. Truly a #VassalState . No surprise Trump has chosen @BorisJohnson a narcissistic self-absorbed political twin.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative): “The UK wants to do a trade deal with Donald Trump, and he said if you want to do a trade deal with the United States this isn’t the way to do it. That’s a matter of US foreign policy.”

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