In press conference, US president backtracks on comments about
Theresa MayDonald Trump has abruptly disavowed his criticism of Theresa May, delivering an extraordinary press conference performance alongside the prime minister in which he pledged new support for a post-
Brexit trade deal and attacked a British tabloid over “
fake news”.
Clutching May’s hand at her Chequers country retreat, Trump delivered a rambling and occasionally surreal broadside covering Brexit, trade and Nato, and claimed he had offered the PM advice on negotiating with Brussels that was “too brutal” for her.
Trump said he had been convinced that May’s Brexit white paper did not preclude a US trade deal, contrary to his overnight interview with the Sun in which he said her strategy would “kill” a deal.
Trump covered a dizzying range of issues, standing under the beating sun on the lawn of the Buckinghamshire estate, where he:
Warned May not to walk away from a deal with the EU.
Insisted a US trade deal was still possible as May insisted there was “no limit” to doing future deals
Accused the Sun of not putting in “all the nice things” he had said about May
Said immigration was “changing the culture” of Europe.
As tens of thousands took to the streets in cities around Britain to protest against his visit, Trump made a concerted effort at diplomacy, toning down comments from the Sun newspaper interview that May had failed to follow his advice on Brexit.
Instead, he spoke about giving her an unspecified “suggestion” rather than advice, adding: “I think she maybe found it too brutal.”
“I can fully understand why she thought it might be tough – if they don’t get the right deal, she may choose to do what I suggested.”
He declined to elaborate on what advice he had offered May, saying it was “respectfully submitted” but then looked horrified at a reporter’s suggestion that he meant the UK could walk away from negotiations.
“If she walks away, that means she’s stuck. You can’t walk away, but you can do other things,” he said.
He revealed that he had apologised to May for the Sun article over breakfast and that she had told him, “don’t worry, it’s only the press” – a revelation of a private conversation that drew a grimace from the prime minister.
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Trump lavished praise on his host after visiting Sandhurst and lunching with May at Chequers in the Chiltern foothills, as protests against his visit took place, notably in London, Belfast, Glasgow and Manchester.
He said the US-UK relationship was “the highest level of special” and that May was “an incredible woman right here doing a fantastic job.”
Trump spoke warmly about the reception he had received at Blenheim Palace with his wife Melania, saying he “felt sorry for others on the table” because he and May were engaged in such deep conversation. “I think we probably never developed a better relationship than last night,” he said.
It was while May hosted the dinner for him at Winston Churchill’s ancestral home that news dropped of the Trump interview, where he told the Sun that the prime minister’s painstakingly constructed Brexit plan would preclude the possibility of a US free trade deal, the same warning made by her party’s most ardent Brexiters.
Trump said the interview omitted his praise of May. “It’s called fake news and we solve a lot of problems with the good old recording instrument,” he said, though he later admitted he had indeed made the comments.. The Sun had already published its own audio recording.
A spokesman for the paper said it stood by its reporting and that the president had essentially retracted his original charge. “To say the president called us ‘fake news’ with any serious intent is, well ... fake news,” a spokesman said.
Downing Street had hinted in advance they were expecting a more emollient tone from the president at the press conference.
Trump said he now understood that May’s Brexit plan would not make a trade deal with the US impossible and suggested he had underestimated May’s negotiating skills.
“I don’t know what you’re going to do, but whatever you do is OK with us. Just make sure you can trade with us, that’s all that matters,” he said to May. “I read reports where that won’t be possible, but I believe after speaking with the prime minister’s people and representatives and trade experts it will absolutely be possible.”
May sought to underline the benefits of the Chequers deal, as MPs in Westminster voiced concern that it would prohibit new comprehensive trade deals.
“There will be no limit to the possibility of us doing trade deals around the rest of the world once we leave the European Union on the basis of the agreement that was made here at Chequers and that I’ve put forward to the European Union,” she said.
However, less welcome was Trump’s suggestion that Boris Johnson, the recently departed foreign secretary, would make a good prime minister, praise he repeated at the press conference as May stood beside him stony-faced.
“I said he’ll be a great prime minister. He’s been very nice to me, he’s been saying very good things about me as president,” he said.
He wondered aloud if the UK was really serious about its departure from the EU, saying “once the Brexit process has concluded, perhaps the UK has left the EU ... I don’t know what they are going to do but whatever you do is OK with me.”
May moved quickly to limit any damage from Trump’s train of thought. “I heard the turn of phrase the president used earlier. Let me be very clear, we will be leaving the European Union,” May said.
Cracks also emerged as the president repeatedly stressed inflammatory claims that immigration in Europe had caused terrorism and was eroding culture, an assertion May made an attempt to counter.
“I think it’s been very bad for Europe. You see the same terror attacks that I do,” he said. “I know it’s not necessarily politically correct to say that, but I’ll say it, and I’ll say it loud. I think they’d better watch themselves because they’re changing a lot of things.”
The president regularly clashed with reporters during the press conference, insisting one correspondent remove his sun hat and telling another from CNN that the channel was “fake news” which he would never take a question from.
Trump is set to meet the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Helsinki after spending the weekend in Scotland. The president said he would address nuclear proliferation at the summit, but declined to commit to specifics on issues like Ukraine and Syria.
“The proliferation is a tremendous, I mean to me, it’s the biggest problem in the world, nuclear weapons, biggest problem in the world,” Trump said. “If we can do something to substantially reduce them, I mean, ideally get rid of them, maybe that’s a dream, but certainly it’s a subject that I’ll be bringing up with him.”
The president departed Chequers immediately after speaking to the press, aboard Marine One for a short journey to Windsor Castle for tea with the Queen.
Before his departure, May presented Trump with an illustrated ancestral chart of his Scottish heritage through his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, a story Trump referenced repeatedly throughout the press conference. Melania Trump received a bespoke perfume by J Floris, called The First Lady, and engraved with her initials.