Donald Trump praises Theresa May, denies criticising her on Brexit

Donald Trump has backtracked after his extraordinary attack on the British PM, saying critical reports were ‘fake news’.

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May during their meeting at Chequers on Friday.

Donald Trump has offered an apology to British Prime Minister Theresa May following the visiting US President’s extraordinary attack on her Brexit strategy.

The two leaders sat down for talks at Mrs May’s country residence, Chequers, late on Friday night, a meeting that was expected to be tense after Mr Trump trashed Mrs May’s leadership in an interview with The Sun newspaper.

In the interview, conducted before he began his visit, Mr Trump said Mrs May’s plans for close future ties with the EU would “probably kill” her hopes for a trade deal with the United States. He also said Mrs May’s former foreign minister Boris Johnson, who resigned this week over the Brexit plan, would make “a great prime minister”.

But after their working lunch at Chequers, Mr Trump emerged to heap praise on Mrs May, calling her a tough negotiator who had left a lot of people in her wake.

As the two leaders stood together for a press conference, Mr Trump said the British leader was doing a “fantastic job”.

“I would much rather have her as my friend than my enemy,’’ he said.

Mr Trump said he approached Mrs May to apologise to her because he had said “very good things’’ about her that were not included in The Sun’s five-page interview.

“I said I want to apologise and she said ‘don’t worry it is only the press’,’’ he said.

During the joint press conference, Mr Trump also appeared to backflip on his trade deal threat, telling Mrs May in front of the assembled media that he wanted to pursue a US-UK trade deal once Brexit was finalised.

“Once Brexit is concluded and the UK leaves the EU, whatever you do is okay with me, just make sure we can trade together, that's what matters,’’ he said.

President Trump and Mrs May at a press conference. Picture: Getty

Relations had never been more special, he said, and any criticism was “fake news”.

“Once the Brexit process is concluded and perhaps the UK has left the EU, I don’t know what they’re going to do but whatever you do is OK with me, that’s your decision,” Mr Trump said.

“Whatever you do is OK with us, just make sure we can trade together … This is an incredible opportunity for our two countries and we will seize it fully.”

The US President, whose visit sparked a large protest 60 kilometres away in central London, said he had been reassured by British officials and trade experts that it would be possible for such a trade deal under Mrs May’s Chequers plan, that is the basis of negotiation with the EU.

He said that Mrs May faced a “complicated’’ negotiation and it was “not easy’’, but a strong and independent UK — like the US — was “a blessing in the world,” he said.

Mrs May did not respond to questions about Mr Trump’s earlier criticism of her policies, and insisted the UK would pursue an ambitious UK-US deal that builds on an UK independent trade policy possible under her preferred Brexit plan.

But in the smallest of rebukes to Mr Trump, Mrs May said it was the responsibility of both countries to ensure the trans-Atlantic unity endures as it has been fundamental to the relationship of both countries. She said the US leadership is at the foundation of its beating heart.

Meanwhile Mr Trump said he would be talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday about Russian meddling in the US election but he did not expect a Perry Mason “gee, I did it’’ confession.

Mrs May said she had also encouraged had Mr Trump to talk to Russia about its “activity’’ of using a nerve agent on the streets of Britain.

Mrs May welcomes her guest.

Mrs May had to put aside Mr Trump’s extraordinary criticism of her Brexit position and the promotion of her potential leadership rival, the former ­foreign secretary Boris Johnson, to discuss Britain’s future relationship with the US before Mr Trump and first lady Melania Trump went to Windsor Castle to meet the Queen.

Mr Trump arrived in Britain for a four-day tour, delivering a series of broadsides at the very time he was being welcomed in the quasi state visit, including a lavish reception at the ancestral home of ­Winston Churchill.

Following in the footsteps of former US president Barack Obama, who told Britons they “would be at the back of the queue’’ if they voted for Brexit, Mr Trump earlier warned Mrs May that she may have killed off any chance of a US trade deal, after accusing her of ignoring his advice and killing off Brexit.

He had also waded into domestic politics, saying that Mr Johnson, a Brexiteer “would be a great prime minister. I think he has got what it takes’’ although he insisted he was not pitting one against the other.

Mr Trump told the mass tabloid newspaper The Sun he had significant and serious doubts about the prospective US-UK trade deal.

In the interview Mr Trump had said Mrs May’s attempts to maintain close ties with the EU would make a lucrative US trade deal very unlikely.

“If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the UK, so it will probably kill the deal,’’ Mr Trump told The Sun.

“If they do that, then their trade deal with the US will probably not be made.”

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He later said he did not criticise Mrs May during the interview. He said he had said “very good things’’ about her that wasn’t included in the headlines of the interview.

The President added that he had not criticised May, lavishing praise on “a terrific woman”, who was smart, tough and capable. “This incredible woman right here is doing a fantastic job,” he said.

He later flew to Scotland where he will stay at his Trump Turnberry golf course until Sunday when he heads to Helsinki for talks with Putin, with whom Mr Trump said he would bring up the issue of nuclear disarmament.

Some of the Prime Minister’s political ­opponents were aghast at the her obsequious greeting ­offered to Mr Trump, starting with her offer of a hand up the red carpeted stairs of Blenheim Palace just as Mr Trump’s explosive interview that undermined her Brexit position was being printed.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said: “I don’t trust her to stand up for our country when it comes to President Trump. She held his hand and walked up the steps of Blenheim. Melania doesn’t hold his hand, why does she (Mrs May) do it?’’

Former Labour home secretary Jacquie Smith said while it was OK for Mr Trump to make comments about political issues “it is not OK to say Boris Johnson will make a good prime minister; you don’t comment on another country’s ­internal set-up’’.

Mr Trump said he felt unwelcome in London, where a hot-air balloon of the President as a baby wearing a nappy and holding a mobile phone, was tethered in front of Big Ben — with the ­approval of the Labour politician and London Lord Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Mr Trump repeated his earlier criticism of Mr Khan, when he said the lord mayor had done a terrible job in London — blaming him for the rise in knife crimes in the capital and for doing “a bad job’’ on ­terrorism.

Mr Khan responded: “The UK, like in fact the US, has a long and rich history of the rights and the freedoms to protest, the freedom of speech, the freedom to ­assemble. Can you imagine if we limited freedom of speech because somebody’s feelings might be hurt?”

Shortly before the meeting, a giant balloon depicting Mr Trump as a scowling baby in a nappy was launched outside the British parliament by protesters opposed to his visit.

Mr Trump, who arrived in Britain on Thursday, said it made him feel unwelcome and he was avoiding the capital as much as possible as a result.

“I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London,” Mr Trump told The Sun

“I used to love London as a city. I haven’t been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?”

Additional reporting: AP/AFP