Daily Mirror

May’s humiliated on own doorstep

He knifes her at Chequers on Brexit She squirms over praise for BoJo

- BY ANDREW GREGORY Political Editor at Chequers andrew.gregory@mirror.co.uk

DONALD Trump stuck the knife into Theresa May again yesterday, just a day after his brutal mauling of her Brexit plan.

But this time the arrogant US president chose to humiliate the PM on her own doorstep when the pair met for talks at Chequers – while insisting his relationsh­ip with her was rosy.

Mr Trump had warned in an interview on the eve of his arrival in Britain that Mrs May’s soft Brexit option threatened to kill of any US-UK trade deal as he did not want to exchange with Brussels because of tariffs. And in a joint press conference interlaced with insincere compliment­s yesterday he embarrasse­d her further with a patronisin­g suggestion that she was not up to the job of tough negotiatio­ns to get a clean break from Europe.

Pressed on the advice he claimed to have given the PM on the matter, the president told reporters: “I think she found it maybe too brutal, and that’s OK, I can see that, I gave her a suggestion, not advice.

“I could understand why she thought it was a little bit tough. Maybe someday she will do that, if they don’t make the right deal, she might very well do what I suggested that she might want to do but it is not an easy thing.” But then he lectured her about a no-deal Brexit, telling her she “can’t walk away” from talks with the EU.

And as the PM squirmed next to him, Mr Trump repeated the claim he made in the newspaper interview that he thought his “friend” Boris Johnson would be a good PM.

He said of the former Foreign Secretary, who quit over the PM’s Chequers deal for a soft Brexit: “Boris Johnson, I think, would be a great Prime Minister.”

The press conference had started as a crude damage limitation exercise after the president’s comments to a newspaper about Brexit, Johnson and London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s handling of terrorism.

He flashed an evil grin before insisting with a straight face that their relationsh­ip remained at “the highest level of special”.

Mr Trump, 72, also claimed she was a “wonderful woman” doing a “fantastic job”. But it descended into farce as he delivered the Brexit and Johnson blows. In another toe-curling moment for Mrs May, the president revealed when he apologised to her over the interview she replied: “Don’t worry it’s only the press.”

Mr Trump also highlighte­d the Tory infighting which has plunged her Cabinet into chaos.

He said: “A lot of people are looking up now, saying ‘Gee whiz.’ She left a lot of people in her wake. I’d much rather have her as my friend than my enemy.”

Labour MP Owen Smith said: “Today was just damage limitation but to be frank the damage has been done, his words are there, in black and white. He can’t take back his words. It seems the only people the president talks about warmly are Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un.”

And Mrs May missed the opportunit­y to show the president she is tough enough to stand up to his bullying, instead insisting meekly the US is “keen” to do a deal with the UK. She added: “We will do a trade deal with them and with others around the rest of the world.”

But last night it remained unclear whether the US trade deal was back on track.

■ Mr Trump was dealt a blow last night after the US justice department announced charges against 12 Russian agents for hacking offences during the 2016 election, which he won.

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GOT YOU Trump holds May’s arm

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