Donald Trump says our next PM must invite Nigel Farage to Brexit talks, refuse to pay the EU £39bn and be ready for No Deal
DONALD Trump insists our next PM must pick Nigel Farage as a key Brexit negotiator — and be ready to walk away from talks.
The US President made a direct appeal to Tory leadership hopefuls, declaring the Brexit Party chief should be their right-hand man.
He intervened in the EU row ahead of a three-day state visit starting tomorrow, saying he would refuse to pay the £39billion exit bill.
And Trump told The Sunday Times it would be a “mistake” not to let Mr Farage into talks following his European election success.
He said: “I like Nigel a lot. He has a lot to offer. He is a very smart person. They won’t bring him in. Think how well they would do if they did. They just haven’t figured that out yet.”
Trump and Farage built up their friendship after the ex-Ukip leader joined him on the election trail in the race to the White House.
He said: “I got to know him when he liked my campaign and he actually came to a speech and I met him. I think he is a terrific person. Really, a terrific person.”
Nigel has a lot to offer. He is a very smart person. They won’t bring him in. Think how well they would do if they did. They just haven’t figured that out yet.
Donald Trump
Farage’s newly formed party picked up 29 of the UK’s 73 seats with Labour reduced to ten and the Tories down to four MEPs.
Speaking during an interview in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: “I hear he has done very well. I think he has got a lot to offer.
“Obviously a lot of people agree with me because I saw his numbers and they were very good. I will say very strongly he loves your country.”
But the 45th President of the United States has some stern advice for the UK’s next Prime Minister — they must leave the EU on October 31 with or without a deal.
Of the dozen candidates, Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom, Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab and Esther McVey are all prepared to go down the No Deal route.
And Mr Trump said: “If they don’t get what they want I would walk away. If you don’t get the deal you want, if you don’t get a fair deal, then you walk away.”
But he vented his frustration at how MPs have not been able to leave nearly three years after the UK voted to in the referendum.
He said: “They gotta get it done. They got to get it done. They have got to get the deal closed.”
SUE THE EU
The business tycoon, who has spent decades making deals, also says Britain should not pay the £39billion exit bill.
He said: “If I were them I wouldn’t pay fifty billion dollars. That is me. I would not pay, that is a tremendous number.”
And he offered outgoing PM Theresa May some words of advice when dealing with the EU — to sue them.
Trump said it would give the UK more “ammunition” in talks.
He added: “What I would do is, for those mistakes made by the EU, that cost the UK a lot of money and a lot of harm, I would have put that on the table, whether it is in the form of litigation or in the form of a request.
"But they chose not to do that. It’s very hard for the UK to get a good deal when they go into the negotiation that way.”
TREMENDOUS PENALTY
During Trump’s visit, he will meet Mrs May at No 10 for their final round of talks before she leaves her post this summer.
She was the first foreign leader to meet the President for talks back in January 2017 — when she held his hand as they negotiated some stairs at the White House.
However, he hit out at her handling of Brexit talks saying the EU was left with “very little to lose” and “no downside”. He called Mrs May “a professional” but said she left Brussels with “all the cards” and failed to put them on the spot.
But Trump wants to “go all out” to sign a free trade deal with the UK once we have left the shackles of the EU, which could be finished “much quicker” than a year.
He also feels the two-year transition period, which would kick in if the UK left with a withdrawal agreement, is “terrible” and a “tremendous penalty”.
He said any losses in trade with the EU after Brexit would be made up with a deal with the US — which Trump said would be “an incredible trade partner”.
'THINGS WILL ALL WORK OUT'
But if the Conservative government were to fall and Jeremy Corbyn became PM, Trump said he would want to get “to know” him before sharing vital intelligence.
The UK shares its secrets with the other Five Eyes countries — America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Trump said the Labour leader was “making a mistake” by not endearing himself to the US given the five countries’ links on intelligence and military secrets.
During Trump’s visit, he will meet the Queen and attend a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in his honour.
Mr Corbyn turned down an invite to meet Trump at the banquet — although the president said he was “not offended” by the snub.
But when asked about Mr Corbyn’s past links with terror groups such as the IRA and Hamas, Trump said: “I think he is probably making a mistake.
"We are very, very good for the UK if you look at what we do for the UK in terms of many things, including — obviously — the military [and] intelligence as well.
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“I would think somebody in that position would want to and have to get along with the United States.”
Trump added: “We have been very, very open with your country having to do with security measures and intelligence.
“Look, national security is so important, so we all have to be very careful together. And [the] UK understands that very well. Very well. It will all work out. Things will all work out, you’ll see.”
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