Donald Trump says Nigel Farage should negotiate Brexit and pushes for No Deal
Donald Trump threw a hand grenade into UK politics today by declaring Nigel Farage should be brought in to negotiate Brexit.
The US President said Britain has “got to get the deal closed” – but must “walk away” with No Deal and refuse to pay the £39billion divorce bill if the EU doesn’t meet London’s demands.
He was condemned for his explosive comments – defying diplomatic convention – ahead of a three-day State Visit to the UK that begins tomorrow.
The remarks came just 24 hours after he said Boris Johnson, the Tory leadership frontrunner, would be an “excellent” choice for Prime Minister.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “President Trump’s attempt to decide who will be Britain’s next prime minister is entirely unacceptable interference in our country’s democracy.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan – who compared Trump’s behaviour to that of a “20th Century fascist” – said the red carpet must not be rolled out.
And Tory former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind told The Independent the comments by the “narcissistic and egocentric” Mr Trump were “unprecedented for a president of the United States”.
Trump’s comments came in an interview with the Sunday Times.
The US President said Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has ‘a lot to offer’ and it was a ‘mistake’ not to involve him in negotiations.
He said: “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 also stressed that the British government has to ‘get the deal closed’ and he would not pay the EU divorce bill if he was in charge.
“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,” he added.
“If I were them I wouldn’t pay 50 billion dollars. That is me. I would not pay, that is a tremendous number.”
The UK is due to leave the EU on October 31 and a string of Tory leadership candidates, including Mr Johnson, have committed to stick to the date no matter what happens.
Others, including Michael Gove, Matt Hancock, Jeremy Hunt and Rory Stewart, have indicated they would try to avoid a No Deal Brexit.
The US president, who will attend a private lunch with the Queen on Monday, also told The Sun that he favours Boris Johnson to be the next Prime Minister.