Trump pulls diplomatic backflip
President praises British PM May after barbs earlier
ELLESBOROUGH, ENGLAND — U.S. President Donald Trump pulled off a diplomatic backflip Friday, reversing himself on trade, Brexit and his critical assessment of British Prime Minister Theresa May while insisting the U.S.-U.K. relationship is “the highest level of special.”
Just days after lobbing thunderous broadsides at his British hosts, Trump was on his best behaviour as he capped his tumultuous two-day visit to the U.K. by dropping by Windsor Castle for tea with the Queen.
Trump’s pomp-filled visit to the United Kingdom has been overshadowed by massive protests and an explosive interview in The Sun in which he blasted May, blamed London’s mayor for terror attacks against the city and argued that Europe was “losing its culture” because of immigration.
The president who prides himself on not saying he’s sorry did his own version of backtracking at a news conference with May by finding a way to blame his favourite foil for any perceived friction with May, whom he lavished with praise on the heels of questioning her leadership.
“I didn’t criticize the prime minister. I have a lot of respect for the prime minister,” said Trump. He blamed the newspaper for skipping over his praise of May in a piece that was published Thursday just as the prime minster played host to Trump at an opulent welcome dinner at a country palace.
The president then urged reporters to listen to a full recording of the interview, which he said would give the full picture. But the audio was already posted on The Sun’s website and undermined Trump’s contention it would back him up.
The interview was the latest breach of diplomatic protocol by Trump, whose predecessors tended to avoid criticizing their foreign hosts. And it comes at a perilous time for May, whose government is teetering amid contentious negotiations on how the U.K. will leave the European Union.
“Well, I think the deal that she is striking is not what the people voted on,” Trump said in the interview. He also praised one of May’s political rivals, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson. He furiously backpedaled away the comments on Friday, saying of May’s Brexit talks: “Whatever you’re going to do is OK with us. Just make sure we can trade together. That’s all that matters.”
May, for her part, praised the strength of the U.S.-U.K. bond. But in a gentle rebuke, said: “It is all of our responsibility to ensure that trans-Atlantic unity endures.”
As for her relationship with Trump, she said: “We are friends.”
Trump was greeted by massive protests across Britain, including tens of thousands of demonstrators who filled the streets of London alongside a giant balloon that flew over Parliament on Friday depicting him as a cellphone-toting angry baby in a diaper.
In a frenetic news conference at Chequers, May’s official country house, an unrestrained Trump blamed his predecessor for Russian aggression in Crimea, placed fair trade at the centre of Britain’s efforts to leave the European Union, defended his beliefs that immigration has damaged Europe and repeatedly jousted with television correspondents’ whose coverage he found critical.
The news conference was a scene in itself, featuring the moos of cows in the distance at the end. Trump at times drew laughs from some British reporters, who jeered his criticism of the media and openly laughed at his numerous boasts.
Interviewed before he left Brussels for the U.K, Trump accused May of ruining what her country stands to gain from its Brexit vote to leave the European Union. He said her former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, would make an “excellent” prime minister, speaking just days after Johnson resigned his position in protest over May’s Brexit plans.
Trump added that May’s “soft” blueprint for the U.K.’s future dealings with the EU would probably “kill” any future trade deals with the United States.
“If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the U.K., so it will probably kill the deal,” Trump told the paper.
Trump, who has linked his own election to the June 2016 referendum in which a slim majority of British voters supported leaving the EU, complained, “The deal she is striking is a much different deal than the one the people voted on.”
He also told the tabloid that he’d shared advice with May during Britain’s negotiations with the EU and she ignored it.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in London for a series of demonstrations against the president’s visit. Marchers gathered near BBC headquarters in central London before walking through the centre of the city to Parliament — where earlier the 20-foot baby blimp hovered overhead.
Many protesters used humour to convey their opposition. One sign read “Trump wears poorly tailored suits,” while another proclaimed: “Overcomb Brexit.” One man was selling rolls of “Trump toilet paper” emblazoned with a picture of the president. More protests are planned in Windsor, where the Trumps will meet the queen later, and in Scotland, where the president plans to spend the weekend at one of his golf courses.
“I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London,” he told The Sun, which is owned by his media ally, Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News in the United States.
Trump has been travelling by helicopter to avoid the protests in central London. Police worked overtime, their days off cancelled.