Last night The Sun released an interview in which Trump was sharply critical of how Theresa May has handled Brexit:
NY POST – “I would have done it much differently,” Trump told The Sun newspaper in an explosive interview just hours before rubbing elbows with the British leader at a lavish black-tie dinner at Blenheim Castle in Oxfordshire.
“I actually told Theresa May how to do it but she didn’t agree,” he said. “She didn’t listen to me. She wanted to go a different route. I would actually say that she probably went the opposite way. And that is fine. She should negotiate the best way she knows how. But it is too bad what is going on.”
The president went on to say May’s negotiating tactics may have wrecked any chance of striking a trade pact with the United States.
“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,” the president said.
“If they do that, then their trade deal with the US will probably not be made.”
But today both Trump and May assert that things are rosy, that they are in full cooperation:
FOX NEWS – President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May pledged full cooperation on trade and other issues Friday, easing tensions following Trump’s explosive interview in which he criticized her handling of ‘Brexit’ and called into question a U.S.-U.K. trade deal.
In a joint press conference outside London, the two leaders touted the relationship between their countries and a commitment to work together on issues of national security, terrorism, border security and trade.
Trump, despite his interview with The Sun, said that he supported whatever decision May comes to regarding Brexit, Britain’s departure from the European Union.
“Once the Brexit process is concluded—and perhaps the U.K. has left the EU, I don’t know, whatever you’re going to do is okay with us,” Trump said. “Just make sure we can trade together. That’s all that matters.”
Both leaders said their countries would work out a trade deal.
“We will do a trade deal with them and with others around the world,” May said. She said she and Trump came up with an “ambitious deal that works for both countries,” that would build on the U.K.’s independent trade policy.
Trump thanked May for “pursuing fair and reciprocal trade” with the U.S.
Trump also sought to ease tensions over his interview comments, saying he “didn’t criticize the prime minister” and suggesting the article left out the “tremendous things” he said about May. He said his aides have a tape of that interview, suggesting it could be released.
Standing next to May, he called her an “incredible woman” who is doing a “fantastic job.”
He also said this about Brexit during the press conference:
President Trump on Brexit:
"The only thing I ask is that [PM May] works it out, so that we can have very even trade because we do not have a fair deal with the European Union right now on trade. They treat the United States horribly, and that's going to change." pic.twitter.com/z2NhF6dDlY
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 13, 2018
As I’m writing this, the press conference between May and Trump has just ended. In his response to one of the final questions, Trump says he actually apologized to May after the article came out, explaining to her that he had said wonderful things about her as well. According to Trump, May simply blamed the press and said not to worry. One of the Sun reporters who interviewed Trump was there and affirmed that he did say wonderful things about her, and Trump thanked them for acknowledging that.
Here’s that exchange:
“When I saw her this morning, I wanted to apologize,” Trump says, addressing his interview with The Sun newspaper in which he said May’s Brexit plan would kill a U.S. trade deal and hailed Boris Johnson. “I said such good things about you” #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/bWaeKQU2XL
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) July 13, 2018