US President-elect Donald Trump wants to seal a new trade deal with the UK “very quickly” and has said Brexit will be a “great thing”
US President-elect Donald Trump has said he will move “very quickly” to secure a new trade deal with the UK when he comes to office.
“I’m a big fan of the UK, we’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides,” Trump told MP Michael Gove in an interview with the Times.
Trump, who will be inaugurated as the 45th US President on Friday, told prominent Leave campaigner Gove that Brexit “is going to end up being a great thing”.
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The billionaire tycoon-turned-politician blasted the European Union as “basically a vehicle for Germany”, and said Germany’s dominance of the organisation is why he thought “the UK was so smart in getting out”. Trump backed Brexit in the run-up to the referendum.
Trump also said the fall in the value of sterling since the EU referendum in June is “great”.
Earlier today, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage predicted the UK could agree to a trade deal within months of Trump coming to office.
Prime Minister Theresa May is set to visit Trump in Washington DC next month.
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In an attack on Nato, Trump said the military alliance was “obsolete” because it has not defended against terror attack, but added that the organisation is still “very important to him”.
I said a long time ago that Nato had problems. Number one it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago. Number two the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay…And the other thing is the countries aren’t paying their fair share so we’re supposed to protect countries.
But a lot of these countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States. With that being said, Nato is very important to me. There’s five countries that are paying what they’re supposed to. Five. It’s not much.
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The President-elect also said he will offer to end sanctions against Russia in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal with President Vladimir Putin. “They have sanctions on Russia – let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia,” he said.
He continued to dismiss allegations that the Kremlin has compromising material gathered when he visited Moscow for the Miss Universe contest.