Criticism one minute, praise the next .... so what does Trump think of PM?
Observers of the US presidency have long remarked that, while Donald Trump can be vicious in his criticisms on Twitter or in interviews, he turns soft as a pussy cat when standing alongside the object of his earlier scorn.
And so it turned out when Mr Trump met Theresa May at Chequers just hours after the publication of his scathing putdown of her handling of Brexit.
Despite having told The Sun only a day before that Mrs May’s approach had “killed” any chance of a US trade deal, the President had clearly decided it was time to praise the Prime Minister, not bury her. Mrs May was “a terrific woman doing a terrific job”, “a very smart, very tough and capable person” and “a very tough negotiator” who made everyone think “Gee Whizz! She left a lot of people in her wake!”, he said.
Their relationship was so “great” after eating “breakfast, lunch and dinner” together that he felt “embarrassed” for the other guests at their table at Blenheim Palace on Thursday evening, frozen out of the conversation as the President and Prime Minister nattered on about world affairs for 90 minutes or more. As for the fabled special relationship which US presidents are always asked to reaffirm when they come to these shores, it was “indispensable”, “the highest level of special”, he said. “Am I allowed to
go higher than that? I don’t know.”
And in a sign that they were still on good terms despite the things he had said, Mr Trump once again reached out to hold the Prime Minister’s hand as they went up and down the steps leading into the garden where they spoke to the press. Never a man accused of a lack of self-regard, Mr Trump did his best to look a little bit sheepish about the faux pas of accusing his guest of failing to deliver the Brexit Britain voted for and talking up her would-be successor Boris Johnson as a future prime minister.
But he was pleased to report that he had already been forgiven.
“When I saw her this morning, I said ‘I want to apologise, because I