Melania bowls them over as Donald causes turmoil
Thousands protest across UK as ‘baby’ balloon mocks US president
US First Lady Melania Trump high-fives a Chelsea Pensioner during a game of bowls in central London as she visits the UK with her husband, who heavily criticised Theresa May in an interview. Photo: Luca Bruno/Reuter.
DONALD TRUMP urged Theresa May to be “brutal” and “tough” in Brexit negotiations, but she ignored his advice to “overshoot” her true targets.
The US president said he had given Mrs May his personal tips on how to get deals done and that it was not too late to “do what I suggested to her”.
He refused to specify what the advice was, but in an interview with ‘The Daily Telegraph’ his former adviser, Steve Bannon, revealed Mr Trump told her to demand far more than she ever expected to get, and to maintain “momentum” because “if it drags out the deal doesn’t get done”.
The comments came on the second day of Mr Trump’s working visit to Britain. Yesterday he also visited Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, while thousands of people assembled in London and Glasgow to protest at his presence.
Melania Trump, the First Lady, spent the morning with Mrs May’s husband, Philip. They played bowls and visited a primary school.
Mrs May later had to endure an uncomfortable, openair press conference with Mr Trump following a three-hour meeting with him at Chequers, during which the president cast doubt on Brexit by saying Britain would “perhaps” leave the EU. His comment prompted Mrs May to insist Britain will be leaving the EU.
She said: “I heard the turn of phrase that the president used earlier, but let me be very clear about this: we will be leaving the European Union, and we are leaving on the 29th of March, 2019.”
Mr Trump said Mrs May could not now walk away from negotiations with Brussels “because if she walks away she’s stuck”.
In a typically freewheeling performance after his meeting with Mrs May, the US president described America’s relationship
with Britain as “the highest level of special” and insisted Mrs May was a “tough negotiator”.
“Once the Brexit process is concluded and perhaps the UK has left the EU, I don’t know what they’re going to do but whatever you do is OK with me, that’s your decision,” Mr Trump said.
“Whatever you do is OK with us, just make sure we can trade together, that’s all that matters. The US looks forward to finalising a great bilateral trade
agreement with the United Kingdom. This is an incredible opportunity for our two countries and we will seize it fully.”
Mr Trump later apologised to her over his interview with ‘The Sun’ in which he suggested her Brexit proposal was not what the British people voted for. He branded parts of the interview “fake news”, despite an audio recording of his comments being posted online by the newspaper.
Asked about that interview, Mr Trump said he had not criticised Mrs May, lavishing praise
on “a terrific woman”, who was smart, tough and capable.
“This incredible woman right here is doing a fantastic job, a great job,” he said. “She’s a total professional because when I saw her this morning, I said: ‘I want to apologise, because I said such good things about you.’ She said: ‘Don’t worry, it’s only the press.’”
Mrs May, likewise, glossed over the comments in ‘The Sun’, saying her deal provided a platform for an ambitious free trade deal.
Throughout the 50-minute press conference Mr Trump repeatedly referred to advice he had given the prime minister on how to conduct the Brexit negotiations, saying: “I gave her a suggestion and I think maybe she found it too brutal.”
Mr Bannon said Mr Trump had offered Mrs May some of the advice contained in his book ‘The Art of the Deal’, which suggests: “Overshoot your target, be tough and get on with it.”
It was at Windsor where Mr Trump’s relative inexperience of state visits came to the fore when, as they began to inspect a guard of honour, he breached royal etiquette by walking in front of the monarch.
Mr Trump appeared unsure of what to do, forcing the queen to walk around him to get onto his right hand side for the inspection.
Earlier in the day, campaigners were in Parliament Square in London filling the “Trump baby” blimp with five huge canisters of helium gas. The blimp was released at 9.30am to cheers from the crowd.
The 20ft inflatable, which depicts the president as a nappy-clad baby holding a mobile phone, was created by Matt Bonner (36), a London graphic designer. “Our motivation is quite clearly mockery,” he said. “It is the only language Trump understands.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)