Donald Trump’s adviser John Bolton says US can do mini trade deals with Britain within a year of Brexit
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s most powerful aide has said Britain and the US could do mini trade deals within a year of Brexit.
National Security Adviser John Bolton said work is already under way on sector-by-sector agreements rather than one big one.
He also attacked the EU, accusing it of treating voters like “peasants”.
The boost for Boris Johnson came as Mr Bolton held talks in No 10 with the embattled new PM.
Mr Bolton said the White House will back the UK “enthusiastically” whatever the Brexit outcome. He said: “That’s my message. We’re with you, we’re with you.”
He said deals could be tied up rapidly in manufacturing and industry, while more complex sectors such as financial services would take longer.
Mr Bolton named car-making as an example, raising the prospect of cheaper American cars in the UK as early as next year.
'WE SEE THIS AS A FAST TRACK'
Quizzed on whether the smaller deals would take years, Mr Bolton insisted: “Not necessarily. We see this as being on a fast track.
“You could pursue a bigger sector that might take longer, or you could pursue some smaller sectors that could be done quite quickly.”
He said Mr Trump was determined to back Britain against the EU as a key expression of democracy — and on a two-day visit to London, blasted Brussels.
He said: “The fashion in the EU when the people vote the wrong way from the way the elites want to go is to make the peasants vote again and again until they get it right.
"It’s hard to imagine anyone in this country didn’t know what was at stake. It was all out there. The result is the way it was. That’s democracy.”
The Sun Says
THE US national security adviser John Bolton is a friend of Britain.
His commitment to working with the Government on flexible, ever-growing trade deals is a marked contrast to the hardline approach taken by the EU over the past three years.
He recognises that good deals can benefit both sides, reinvigorating our vital Special Relationship and our economies, too. PM Boris Johnson’s relationship with President Trump is a strength, not a weakness.
The American administration is also enthusiastic about a No Deal Brexit, confident that Britain will thrive even if we have a clean break.
If only some of our politicians had such belief.
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Mr Bolton also criticised former president Barack Obama, who backed David Cameron’s Remain campaign during the referendum.
He said: “A past president said the UK will go to the back of the queue. From as far as the Trump administration is concerned, Britain is constantly at the front of the queue. Or line, as we say.”
Mr Bolton also said the PM was free to take his time to consider Mr Trump’s calls for him to ban Huawei from building some of the UK’s 5G mobile phone network as the US understands Brexit is a priority.
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