Donald Trump slams Jeremy Corbyn and says Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal a block to US trade
US President Donald Trump has waded into the UK General Election debate, saying Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would be “so bad” for Britain.
Yet Trump also warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that “certain aspects of” his Brexit deal mean the US “can’t make a trade deal with the UK,” despite the Trump administration wanting to.
Read more: US lawmakers vote to push on in Donald Trump impeachment inquiry
In an interview with Brexit party leader Nigel Farage on London’s LBC radio, Trump slammed Corbyn, saying a Labour government would “take you on such a bad way. He’d take you into such bad places”.
Trump’s intervention into UK politics will prove controversial. Former US President Barack Obama’s 2016 comment that Brexit would leave the UK at the “back of the queue” for trade deals with the US caused a furore during the European Union referendum.
The current US President had warmer words, but cautioned Johnson over his Brexit deal. He said: “We want to do trade with the UK but to be honest with you, under certain aspects of the deal you can’t do it. You can’t trade.”
Yet Trump spoke kindly of Johnson on a personal level. “He’s a fantastic man and I think he’s the exact right guy for the times,” he said.
Trump dismissed the idea that any trade deal between the US and the UK would involve the NHS. “It’s not for us to have anything to do with your healthcare system,” he said.
Corbyn fired back on Twitter, saying: “Donald Trump is trying to interfere in Britain’s election to get his friend Boris Johnson elected.”
He added: “It was Trump who said in June the NHS is ‘on the table’. And he knows if Labour wins US corporations won’t get their hands on it.”
Johnson-Farage pact
President Trump also said he wanted to see Farage and Johnson unite in a General Election pact. Farage hinted he would do so if the PM decided to pursue a no-deal Brexit.
“I’d like to see you and Boris get together because you would really have some numbers,” he said. “He respects you a lot, I can tell you that.”
The interview was recorded within an hour of the US House of Representatives voting to move on to the next stage of its impeachment inquiry into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
Trump said allegations that he abused his power to get dirt on Joe Biden are “totally false”.
The President said people call him a “very intelligent person” before asking why an intelligent person would try to pressure a foreign power into helping him in an election.
Read more: General Election: Jeremy Corbyn pledges to go after ‘greedy bankers’
The broad-ranging conversation covered one of Trump’s favourite topics, the Royal Family. He said he “really hit it off” with the Queen on his state visit in June.
Trump also said he was a fan of Prince Charles. “He loves the environment,” he said.
(Image credit: Getty)