Trump taunts May

President adds to UK’s Brexit woes with support of Johnson

DONALD Trump deepened Theresa May’s Brexit misery yesterday by claiming the UK was in turmoil and by backing Boris Johnson.

The diplomatic hand grenade, which came just 24 hours before Mr Trump’s first visit to Britain as US President, will heighten Cabinet jitters.

Speaking before leaving for today’s NATO summit in Brussels, Mr Trump repeated his warning that European countries could not expect Washington to continue subsidising their defence.

His trip to Europe will finish with a summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday.

Speaking as he boarded Marine One, Mr Trump said: “It’s going to be an interesting time in the UK and an interesting time at NATO.

“So I have NATO, I have the UK – that’s a situation with turmoil. And I have Putin. Frankly, Putin may be the easiest of all.”

Mr Trump also heaped praise on the UK’s outgoing foreign secretary Boris Johnson who resigned this week.

“Boris Johnson is a friend of mine. He’s been very, very supportive and very nice to me.”

Mr Johnson made no comment yesterday. He is lying low, apparently weighing up his next move following his dramatic resignation.

Some MPs are privately urging him to challenge Ms May for the leadership.

Ms May struggled to hide her irritation when asked about Mr Trump’s comments yesterday, but insisted she was looking forward to his visit.

‘There is much for us to discuss,” she said. “We will be talking positively about how we can continue to work together for the good of people in the UK and the United States.”

But Mr Trump’s jibes will fuel concerns the visit will be a diplomatic minefield.

Mr Trump is an outspoken supporter of Brexit and his ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson last week urged Britain to “hold its nerve” and cut free from the EU.