As Donald Trump offers Britain an immediate trade deal, we look in detail at his views on Brexit, ISIS and Germany
Just days before his inauguration, the President Elect opened up to former Cabinet Minister Michael Gove in New York
DONALD Trump has declared he loves Britain and offered Theresa May a Brexit Trump card — an immediate trade deal with the USA.
Just days before his inauguration, the President Elect opened up to former Cabinet Minister Michael Gove in a wide-ranging interview that took place on Friday in Trump Tower, New York.
The President Elect sent shock waves across Europe as he revealed his startlingly frank views on everything from ISIS to Brexit and the Germans.
And he revealed he is a “ big fan of the UK” whose late mum loved the Queen.
Here The Sun looks in detail at the key New York interview.
He delighted Brexiteers by proposing an immediate free trade agreement with Britain before we have even left the EU.
In contrast to outgoing President Obama, who threatened that Britain would be at the “back of the queue” if we quit the EU, Mr Trump vowed to a do new deal “very quickly”.
“We’re going to work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides,” he promised.
But Mr Trump sparked dismay across European capitals - especially in Berlin - as he threw the weight of the incoming White House administation behind the break up of the EU and hinted at a future trade war.
He also sent defence chiefs into a tail spin by claiming that NATO had become “obsolete” and vowed to tackle ISIS when he becomes Commander in Chief on Friday.
And climbing down on previous statements, Mr Trump said he wants to see Russian and nuclear arsenals “reduced very substantially”.
And Mr Trump promised he would not be tamed once he is firmly behind his desk in the Oval Office - vowing to keep his Twitter feed uncensored and uninterrupted.
On Brexit
DONALD Trump said Britain’s decision to leave the EU was a great thing.
He predicted more countries will now follow because “countries want their own identity”.
He said the UK might have voted to Remain if they had not been forced to take in so many refugees with all the problems it entails.
He called it the final straw that broke the camel’s back. He said he does not really care whether the EU is separate or together, describing it as a vehicle for Germany.
He said: “That’s why I thought the UK was so smart in getting out.”
He also believes Nato is failing because members do not pay their way. He said: “Britain is paying. There are five countries that pay what they’re supposed to. Five. It’s not much, from 22.”
On Angela Merkel
HE declared he was very proud of his German heritage and that he got his love of things done in an orderly manner from his German father.
But he said Chancellor Angela Merkel made a catastrophic mistake opening borders to millions of refugees.
He blasted: “We don’t want people coming in from Syria who we don’t know who they are. You know there’s no way of vetting these people. I don’t want to do what Germany did.”
He said he respected Mrs Merkel but admitted: “I don’t know her.”
He said he will start by trusting her “but let’s see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all”.
On Mercedes
HE risked starting a trade war with Germany after branding their current relationship deeply unfair as there are too many of its cars in the US.
He said: “You go down Fifth Avenue everybody has a Mercedes-Benz in front of their building, right? It’s been very unfair to the US, it’s a one-way street, it’s gotta be a two-way street.”
He wants to see more US models sold in Berlin, and he sees tariffs as a solution to the problem unless German firms build more cars in America.
He added: “I would tell BMW if they think they’re gonna build a plant in Mexico and sell cars into the US without a 35 per cent tax, it’s not gonna happen, it’s not gonna happen.
“They can build cars for the US but they’ll be paying a tax on every car that comes into the country.”
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On Theresa May
THE President-elect revealed Theresa May had written to him over Christmas and he would be meeting her soon ... at her request.
He believes a Brexit trade deal is something the pair can achieve very quickly.
He said: “I’m a big fan of the UK, we’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly — good for both sides.”
Trump saved his warmest words for Ukip’s ex-boss Nigel Farage, who he called “our Nigel”.
He added: “I like him, I think he’s a great guy, I think he’s a very good guy and he was very supportive.”
He heaped praise on Mr Farage for how he would “go around the US — he was saying, ‘Trump’s gonna win’. He was one of the earliest people that said Trump was gonna win. So, he’s gotta feel for it.”
On Syria
HE believes the West should have already done more to intervene in Syria.
Trump said he would have policed the country by building safe zones.
And, in a rare swipe at leader Vladimir Putin, he blasted Russia for its bombing campaign in Aleppo.
He said: “I think it’s a very rough thing. It’s a very bad thing, we had a chance to do something when we had the line in the sand and it wasn’t, nothing happened.”
He blamed the US invasion of Iraq for much of the trouble in the Middle East, adding: “It’s like throwing rocks into a beehive.” He argued US forces’ strength must be increased to “let our military win”.
On ISIS
FIGHTING ISIS is the top priority but he is keeping his plans to tackle the jihadis a secret so it comes as a surprise.
He blasted President Obama for giving away his tactics when trying to free the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Trump said: “Mosul turned out to be a disaster because we announced five months ago that we were going into Mosul, in five months. In four months we said, ‘We’re getting ready’. By the time we get in, it’s been so much talk — and it’s been very hard to take — you know that, right?”
He also hit out against the nuclear deal with Iran that reduced sanctions in return for it scaling back nuclear ambitions. He added: “I’m not happy with the Iran deal, I think it’s one of the worst deals ever made, I think it’s one of the dumbest deals I’ve ever seen.”
On Twitter
MR Trump vowed to keep his controversial Twitter feed in the White House and build up his 46million followers.
He claimed it will let him correct media reports about himself and give him a direct line to people via TV news.
Trump said: “I can go bing bing bing and I just keep going and they put it on. They can’t do much when you tweet it and I’m careful, it’s very precise, actually it’s very, very precise — and it comes out breaking news, we have breaking news.”
Probed on whether he will use his personal account or take over the official @potus account, he replied: “I’d rather just let that build up and just keep it @realDonaldTrump, it’s working.”
He admitted some tweets were typed out by an aide, saying he will dictate something and they will put it on.