Trump urges May to ‘fix it’ so he gets good reception on UK visit
DONALD Trump has told Theresa May he will not come to Britain for his controversial State visit until he is sure of getting a “better reception”, it has been reported.
The US President was said to have told the Prime Minister that he had not had “great coverage” in the UK and had urged her to “fix it for me”, according to The Sun on Sunday.
It was originally reported last month that Mr Trump had informed Mrs May that he did not want to go ahead with the visit if there were likely to be large-scale protests.
The Sun on Sunday said it had now obtained a transcript of their telephone conversation in which Mr Trump said: “I haven’t had great coverage out there lately, Theresa.”
Mrs May replied: “Well, you know what the British Press are like.”
He said: “I still want to come, but I’m in no rush. So, if you can fix it for me, it would make things a lot easier.
“When I know I’m going to get a better reception, I’ll come, and not before.”
Mrs May was widely criticised for bestowing the honour of a State visit on such a controversial figure so early in his presidency when she met Mr Trump for the first time in the White House in January.
However, no date has yet been set for the visit — which had originally been expected to take place this year — prompting speculation it could be delayed until next year at the earliest.
Mr Trump confirmed that he still intended to come to London when he met Mrs May last week at the G20 summit in Hamburg, while Downing Street has said it is still working on dates.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has denigrated a poll assessing his six-month approval rating as the lowest of any President since it started being conducted in the 1940s.
Just 36% of Americans endorsed his job performance, which was down from another record low of 42% at the 100-day mark, in a joint survey by The Washington Post and ABC News, while 58% disapproved of his first six months, most of them “strongly”.
And just 48% of people think the US’s place as a global leader has weakened under Mr Trump, compared to 27% who say it has strengthened, the poll found.
However, Mr Trump took to Twitter to criticise the poll, saying it had been “just about the most inaccurate” during the election last year.
He added that his “almost 40 per cent” rating “is not bad at this time”.