Donald Trump gives Theresa May a ‘Brexit boost’ with pledge that UK-US trade agreement will be signed ‘very, very quickly’
American president said he had developed a 'very special relationship' with Theresa May and that no two countries 'could possibly be closer' than the USA and UK
DONALD Trump gave Theresa May a massive Brexit boost today as he said a UK-US trade deal will be signed “very, very quickly” after Britain leaves the EU.
The US President told the PM it would be a “very powerful deal” as he lavished praise on the UK - saying “no country could possibly be closer than our countries”.
He told her he believes Britain will “thrive” outside the EU and spoke of the "very special relationship" the pair had developed since he took office in January.
No10 said the two nations want to make sure they are in a position on Brexit day in March 2019 to sign and implement a deal “as soon as possible”.
And Mr Trump said he will be coming to London following reports he had called off his state visit in fear of mass protests.
But he refused to reveal when - only saying: “We’ll work that out.”
UK government sources said there was a “good very atmosphere” throughout the meeting, which took place in the fringes of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, Germany, this morning.
But Mrs May came under fire after failing to raise concerns about Mr Trump’s scepticism of climate change in their 50-minute sit-down.
No10 had said she would challenge the President over his highly controversial decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement and tell him there was no chance of renegotiating the landmark 2015 accord.
She only raised the contentious issue as the pair walked to their next meeting. A government source said she told him “face-to-face that she hopes the US will rejoin the Paris agreement”.
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Mrs May dodged other difficult issues - avoiding any mention of his decision to attack London’s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan over his handling of two terror attacks in the capital this year.
The US President told Mr Khan to “stop being politically correct” in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack last month - and later branded him “pathetic”.
In contrast, Mrs May challenged other world leaders on tricky topics.
She raised concerns about the Chennai Six with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, telling him of the deep concern back in Britain over the plight of the six former British squaddies who have been holed up in an Indian jail for the last four years.
She told him she was hoping to see a verdict soon and received a positive response from Mr Modi, according to a UK government source who was in the room.
The PM also told China’s President Xi Jinping to crack down on his country’s over-supply of steel, which has devastated Britain’s industry.
Instead Mrs May and Mr Trump focussed on issues they share common ground on - spending most of their one-to-one discussing trade.
Britain is barred from striking free trade deals until after it leaves the EU in April 2019 but the two leaders pledged to examine areas where the two countries can deepen their trade relations beforehand.
They want to make sure “any remaining barriers are dealt with so that when we’re ready to go, the deal can be done very quickly and smoothly,” a government source said.
They added: “Some things can be worked on in advance and others will have to wait until we leave the EU.”
And in a sign of Washington’s seriousness over a trade deal, Mr Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also attended the meeting.
A government source said the meeting “showed the feeling of momentum” on a UK-US post-Brexit trade deal and the “reiterated the desire on both sides to get this done promptly and in the fullest way possible”.
Speaking as he met Mrs May this morning in Hamburg, Mr Trump declared: "There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries."
He added: “We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly.”
Mrs May also discussed a future trade deal with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, telling him that she wants Britain to use Tokyo’s new free trade deal with the EU as the basis for a UK-Japan agreement after Brexit.
During the summit in Hamburg yesterday, Mr Trump met with Russian president Vladimir Putin who denied his country had hacked America's presidential election.
The two political strongmen shared a handshake in front of the cameras before holding private talks that were scheduled for 35 minutes but lasted for more than two hours.
Speaking today, the US president said the meeting with Mr Putin was "tremendous" with his secretary of state Rex Tillerson saying "the two leaders connected very quickly".
Mrs May is also expected to have a discussion with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and what can be done to stem the flow of ISIS fighters into the Middle-Eastern country from Syria.
Yesterday she held a meeting with China's president Xi Jinping who said relations between the two countries were in a "golden era".
He pointed toward the Asian superpower's increased investment into the UK, following the referendum decision to leave the EU last summer, as a sign of the confidence his country has in Britain's economic prospects post-Brexit.
The G20 summit is held annually and sees the leaders of the world's most powerful nations coming together to discuss international issues.
The first was held in 1999 and this year's gathering in Hamburg has been marred by street protests that have seen the police use tear gas and water cannon to maintain order.
Also present in the city are Ivanka Trump, who is working as a senior adviser to her father, and first lady Melania Trump.
A joint statement was agreed upon today by all countries but showed a divide between the US and the rest of the world's major powers on climate change.
The communique said: "We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement... The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible."
The French president Emmanuel Macron said he still hoped to change Mr Trump's mind on climate change and announced another climate change summit to take place in Paris on 12 December.
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