It was OK for Meghan to be nasty about me, says Donald
As Melania and Camilla meet envoy’s wife, Trump speaks out ...
DONALD Trump yesterday said it was ‘OK’ for the Duchess of Sussex to make ‘nasty’ comments about him as he sought to clear the air with the Americanborn royal.
He also insisted that her husband, Prince Harry, ‘ couldn’t have been nicer’ towards him during his state visit to the UK.
The US President played down claims Harry tried to avoid him at Buckingham Palace on Monday after he was reported to have criticised Meghan for making negative remarks about him in the past.
He said: ‘No, no, no, just the opposite. In fact, he spent a lot of time talking to Ivanka and talking to my family. I went up – he couldn’t have been nicer. Couldn’t have been nicer… I think he’s great.’
Ahead of his visit to Britain, Mr Trump was said to have called the prince’s wife ‘nasty’ in a newspaper interview. In 2016 Meghan described Mr Trump as a ‘ misogynist’ and ‘divisive’ and said she would consider leaving her native America if he was elected president.
When told she had made critical comments about him, Mr Trump told The Sun: ‘What can I say? I didn’t know that she was nasty.’ But Mr Trump later denied making the comment.
Yesterday he tried to set the record straight in an interview with Piers Morgan for today’s ITV’s Good Morning Britain at the Churchill War Rooms in central London.
The President said: ‘ She was nasty to me. And that’s OK for her to be nasty, it’s not good for me to be nasty to her and I wasn’t.’ He went on: ‘You know what? She’s doing a good job, I hope she enjoys her life... I think she’s very nice.’
Mr Trump said he got a chance to speak to Harry on his visit to the palace this week, adding: ‘I congratulated him and I think he’s a terrific guy. The Royal Family is really nice.’
Morgan asked him: ‘Did he say: “Come on – do you think my wife’s nasty?”’ Mr Trump replied: ‘ We didn’t talk about it… I was going to because it was so falsely put out there. And when you see that transcript and you see, it’s the exact opposite of what they said.’
Harry, 34, appeared reluctant to be pictured with Mr Trump when he visited Buckingham Palace’s picture gallery for a display of USthemed artefacts on Monday.
He quickly disappeared into the background and did not follow other members of the Royal Family as they walked round the exhibition with the President and his party.
Last night, after hosting the Trumps at Clarence House on Monday, it was time for Charles and Camilla to enjoy some good old American hospitality.
The royal couple were guests of the US ambassador to the UK, Robert ‘Woody’ Johnson and his wife Suzanne Ircha, at their official London residence for what is known as a ‘return dinner’ in honour of the US President.
Mr Trump and his wife Melania patiently waited outside for Charles and Camilla to arrive before they swept up in a chauffeurdriven car. Camilla looked elegant in a white evening gown by Fiona Clare with a pretty embroidered overlay and a bejewelled necklace – a contrast to Melania’s striking red cape- style £ 5,610 Givenchy gown and loose, dark locks. President Trump’s children also joined the dinner, Ivanka wearing a white off-the-shoulder gown and her hair in a chignon. His younger daughter, Tiffany, wore a grey full-length dress.
Normally the Lord Mayor of London would hold his own banquet on the second night of a state visit by a foreign leader.
But when it comes to US presidents, it has become something of a tradition for the royals to dine at the glorious 1930s Grade II-listed Winfield House in Regent’s Park.
Guests at the black tie dinner dined on fresh burrata cheese with heritage tomatoes, basil, and Maldon salt; then grilled fillet of beef with pommes Anna, watercress puree, celeriac and chantenay carrots; followed by summer berries, homemade vanilla ice cream with muscovado sugar tuile.
The setting was far more intimate than for the state banquet at Buckingham Palace on Monday night. The house’s dining room was set with six tables each with around ten places.
Mr Trump sat on one table with Charles and Theresa May on either side of him. There were no speeches, unlike the previous evening, but the prince and the President both gave brief toasts.
‘He couldn’t have been nicer’