Donald Trump has said that Brexit will be “a great thing” and vowed to offer Britain a quick and “fair” trade deal with America within weeks of taking office.
Speaking to The Times in his first interview with a British media organisation since his election victory, the US President-elect revealed that he was inviting Theresa May to visit him “right after” he gets into the White House and wants a trade agreement between the two countries secured “very quickly”.
Mr Trump spoke to former Justice Secretary and Times columnist Michael Gove, who was ushered into the billionaire’s New York offices last week to conduct an interview along with a journalist from the German title Bild.
Mr Trump also predicted that other countries would follow Britain’s lead in leaving the European Union, claiming it had been deeply damaged by the migration crisis.
“I think it’s very tough,” he said. “People, countries want their own identity and the UK wanted its own identity.”
He added: “I love the UK. We’re gonna work very hard to get it [a trade deal] done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides.
“I will be meeting with [Mrs May]. She’s requesting a meeting and we’ll have a meeting right after I get into the White House and it’ll be, I think we’re gonna get something done very quickly.”
In a move which underlined teething problems in the relationship between Downing Street and the incoming Trump administration, Mr Gove’s interview meant Prime Minister Theresa May was beaten to a face-to-face meeting for the second time. After Ukip leader Nigel Farage and Mr Gove, she will be only the third British politician to meet the new US President face-to-face.
No 10 officials have been seeking carefully to choreograph a meeting between Mrs May and Mr Trump as early as next month after an at-times difficult start to relations. A tweet from the billionaire suggesting Mr Farage be made Britain’s ambassador to Washington drew a frosty response, with Downing Street observing that there was “no vacancy”.
In the interview, Mr Trump also revealed he wants to agree a nuclear weapons reduction deal with President Putin of Russia in return for lifting US sanctions. But he was highly critical of Russia’s intervention in Syria, however, describing it as “a very bad thing” that had led to a “terrible humanitarian situation”.
He said orders will be signed next Monday to strengthen America’s borders, which could include travel restrictions on Europeans coming to the US as well as “extreme vetting” for those entering America from parts of the world known for Islamist terrorism.
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