Donald Trump admits he is yet to receive an invite to Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Piers Morgan interview
DONALD Trump has revealed he is yet to receive an invite to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.
The US President conceded he is unlikely to be attending in a major interview with telly host Piers Morgan for an ITV special to be screened tonight.
He even ducked a question on whether he would like to go as he simply replied: “I really want them to be happy. They look like a lovely couple.”
LA-born actress Meghan, 36, has been an outspoken critic of Mr Trump, including his attitude to women.
In 2016, she described the tycoon as “divisive” and “misogynistic”.
And Piers soon brought up the subject of whether the President was on the guest list for her big day at Windsor in May.
PIERS: “Have you got an invite to the Royal Wedding?”
TRUMP: “Not that I know of.”
PIERS: “Would you like to go?”
TRUMP: “I want them to be happy. I really want them to be happy. They look like a lovely couple.”
PIERS: “Meghan Markle did say you were a divisive misogynist.”
TRUMP: “Well, I still hope they’re happy.”
In his first international TV interview since taking office, he also revealed his late Scots-born mother Mary Anne MacLeod’s love for the Queen.
And he was asked what his mum’s thoughts would be on his yet-to-be-decided State Visit.
PIERS: “What would she have made of what’s happened to you, your Mom?”
TRUMP: “She would have — you know, she had a great sense of regal . . . she had a love for the Queen.
"She had a love for the Royal Family. She really respected the Queen, and she loved the pomp and ceremony. The fact is, she loved the UK.”
Trump on Brexit & state visit
DONALD Trump has blasted Theresa May for her handling of the Brexit talks — saying that she has to get “tough”.
The US President took the Prime Minister to task for her negotiating tactics with Brussels.
Asked whether he thought she was in a good position, he said: “Would it be the way I negotiate? No, I wouldn’t negotiate it the way it’s (being) negotiated . . . I would have had a different attitude.” He added: “I would have said that the European Union is not cracked up to what it’s supposed to be.
“I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out.”
The intervention will help Brexiteers warning Downing Street to avoid a soft Brexit at all costs.
He said: “I said (that) because of trade, but mostly immigration, Brexit is going to be a big upset. And I was right.
“I know the British people and understand them.
“They don’t want people coming from all over the world into Britain, they don’t know anything about these people.”
“But he said there would be a ‘great trade deal’ between the two countries.
He said: “You have a two-year restriction because of Brexit but when that is up we’re going to be your great trading partner.” The US President looked set to trigger a huge diplomatic row by claiming Mrs May has invited him to the UK twice before the end of the year.
It would include a full State Visit in October — which would include meeting the Queen.
He said: “Yeah, I’ll be there. She just invited me. Twice.” He could visit Britain in July to coincide with a Nato visit in Brussels.
PIERS: “So she would have loved you. She’d love you to get a State Visit, right?”
TRUMP: “Well, she would go back every year to Scotland. She just thought it was incredible.
"You know, she came over to the United States when she was 19. She met my father . . . they got married; they were married for many, many decades. And they had a great marriage. You know, she was a terrific woman, and . . . she loved Scotland. And maybe that’s one of the reasons that I feel the same way about it.”
Mr Trump also told Good Morning Britain host Piers of tweeting from bed, his decision to block trophy hunting and how the US could go back into the Paris climate change agreement.
Trump on... Tweeting
DONALD Trump revealed he often fires off tweets from his White House bed.
PIERS MORGAN: “Do you actually tweet yourself?”
DONALD TRUMP: “I do, I do.”
PIERS: “And are you actually lying in bed with your phone, working out how to wind everybody up?”
TRUMP: “Well, perhaps sometimes in bed and perhaps sometimes at breakfast or lunch or whatever.
“But generally speaking, during the early morning or during the evening, I can do that.
“But if I’m very busy during the day I’ll sometimes just dictate out something really quickly and I’ll give it to one of my people to put it on.”
The pair became firm friends a decade ago when Piers won the US final of The Celebrity Apprentice hosted by the New York entrepreneur.
When they met up again at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, the President greeted Piers with the words: “Man, I’ve missed you!”
Trump on... Shooting Animals
MR Trump voiced disgust at “horror show” elephant trophy hunting and revealed he has halted such imports from Zambia and Zimbabwe.
PIERS: “You seem to indicate you’ve had a change of mind about this or you would like the administration to?”
TRUMP: “Well, I changed it. I didn’t want elephants killed and stuffed and have the tusks brought back into this and people can talk all they want about preservation and all of the things that they’re saying where money goes towards.
"Well, money was going in that case, going to a government, which was probably taking the money, OK? I turned that order around. You know, that was an order.”
PIERS: “I know you did. I was very pleased to see that.”
TRUMP: “Yeah, I totally turned it around. I thought it was terrible. That was done by a very high-level government person. As soon as I heard about it, I turned it around.
";That same day — not even a day went by. No, I was not believing in conservation.”
Arsenal fan Piers gave his pal, the 45th US President, a Gunners shirt with Trump and the number 45 on the back — and jokingly invited him to be the new manager.
Trump on... Global Warming
AMERICA could rejoin the Paris climate change accord — if the US gets a good deal from major nations, he revealed.
PIERS: “For you, is it about the science or about the money, the Paris Accord?”
TRUMP: “I think it’s about everything and I’m a believer in clean air and clean water. The Paris Accord, for us, would have been a disaster.”
PIERS: “Are you completely out of that?”
TRUMP: “I’m completely out of it.”
PIERS: “No way back?”
TRUMP: “It could be a way back. First of all, it was a terrible deal for the United States. If they made a good deal, there’s always a chance we’d get back.”
“But it was a terrible deal for the United States. It was unfair to the United States.” PIERS: “Do you believe in climate change? Do you think it exists?”
TRUMP: “There’s a cooling and there’s a heating.”
“I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming.
“That wasn’t working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.
“The ice caps were going to melt, they were going to be gone by now, but now they’re setting records. They’re at a record level.
"I believe in clean air. I believe in crystal-clear, beautiful . . . I believe in just having good cleanliness in all.
";Now, with that being said, if somebody said, ‘Go back into the Paris Accord’, it would have to be a completely different deal because we had a horrible deal.
“As usual, they took advantage of the United States. We were in a terrible deal.
“Would I go back in? Yeah, I’d go back in. I like, as you know, I like Emmanuel (Macron, French President).
“I would love to, but it’s got to be a good deal for the United States.”
Prince's escape
PRINCE Harry returned to Botswana last week but left Meghan behind for bridal dress fittings.
They were in the African country over the summer for her birthday when he decided to propose to her.
And they have now spent a few precious days apart so she could focus on wedding planning while Harry, 33, turned his attention to his wildlife conservation work.
- President Trump — The Piers Morgan Interview, ITV tonight at 10pm