The Scotsman

Prime Minister sidesteps book row and confirms Trump will visit UK

- By GAVIN CORDON

Theresa May has brushed off concerns about the mental stateofdon­aldtrumpaf­teran explosive account of life inside the White House questioned his fitness for high office.

The Prime Minister said in her dealings with Mr Trump she had always found that he was determined to act in the best interests of the United States.

Appearing on BBC1’S The Andrew Marr Show, she also confirmed the president would be coming to the UK but gave no details about the visit.

Her comments came after Mr Trump proclaimed himself to be a “very stable genius” while branding author Michael Wolff a “fraud”.

In his book, Fire And Fury: Inside The Trump White House, Mr Wolff portrayed a dysfunctio­nal administra­tion where senior aides repeatedly questioned whether Mr Trump had the mental capacity to be president.

Asked whether concerns abouthisme­ntalstatew­ere serious, Mrs May said: “No.

“As I say, when I deal with President Trump what I see is somebody who is committed to ensuring that he is taking decisions in the best interests of the United States.”

On the issue of a visit by the president to the UK, she said: “He will be coming to this country.”

She did not say, however, whether it would be a full state visit or simply a working visit to coincide with the opening of the new US embassy in London which is expected to take place in February.

Mrs May controvers­ially extended the offer of a state visit when she became the first world leader to meet Mr Trump in the White House following his inaugurati­on last year.

Since then, however, the president has indicated he does not want to take up the invitation if he is going to face mass demonstrat­ions.

Earlier, Mr Trump hit back at the claims in Mr Wolff’s book in a series of trademark tweets.

“Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart.

“Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames,” he said.

“I went from very successful businessma­n, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try).

“I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius .... and a very stable genius at that!”

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