Brexit deal could be ‘very tough,’ Trump warns Boris
DONALD Trump has suggested that Boris Johnson may be unable to reach a Brexit deal with the European Union but insisted he would be a “great Prime Minister”.
The US President, who was speaking as the Prime Minister’s first international summit came to an end, warned that the EU would be tough to negotiate with.
“They may have to get out, they may not make a deal,” Mr Trump said at the close of the G7 summit in Biarritz.
“The European Union is very tough to make deals with – just ask Theresa May.”
Mr Trump, who held a first formal meeting with Mr Johnson on Sunday, said he poked fun at the Prime Minister over the time it had taken him to finally get into Number 10.
“I really believe that Boris Johnson will be a great Prime Minister,” he said. “We really like each other. And we had a great two and a half days.
“I have been waiting for him to be Prime Minister for about six years.
“I told him, ‘What took you so long?”’
He added: “I think his time is right, it’s the right time for Boris.”
Responding to Mr Trump, the Prime Minister said while the EU were tough negotiators “that doesn’t mean we won’t do a deal”.
“It will be difficult, there is a substantial disagreement, but my job is to make our case.”
He repeated his demand for the backstop, the contingency plan to retain close ties with the EU to prevent a hard border with Ireland, to
be scrapped.
Mr Johnson has held talks in recent days with Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s Emmanuel Macron and European Council chief Donald Tusk, which have left him more upbeat about the prospect of reaching an agreement.
But major stumbling blocks remain, with opponents of a no-deal Brexit also mobilising in an attempt to prevent Mr Johnson meeting his pledge of leaving on October 31 come what may.
Earlier, on the final day of his first international summit and debut on the world stage, Mr Johnson discussed boosting trade links with the leaders of Japan, Australia and Egypt.
The Prime Minister also talked about the crisis in Hong Kong in his meeting with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.
During their meeting in Biarritz, Mr Johnson and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe committed to pursuing an “ambitious free-trade agreement” after Brexit, building on the existing deal with the EU.
In his meeting with Mr Morrison “the leaders discussed their enthusiasm for an enhanced and deep trading relationship once the UK leaves the EU”, Number 10 said.
A Downing Street spokeswoman added: “The two leaders were concerned about the current situation in Hong Kong, and agreed that it was paramount for all sides to remain calm and peaceful and to maintain Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy as guaranteed by the legally binding joint declaration.”
There were more violent clashes during anti-government protests in Hong Kong over the weekend.
After meeting the Prime Minister, Mr Morrison suggested a trade deal with the UK could be done within a year.
“You’ve just got to get round the table and work it through,” he said.
“I’m not going to create any arbitrary deadlines on this.”
And Mr Johnson also said there “big, big opportunities” from a trade deal with the US.
But he said he would rather have a “comprehensive deal” rather than a quicker but smaller agreements focusing simply on goods and agricultural and food products.
Mr Johnson’s meeting with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi focused on their “shared desire to strengthen economic, trade and security co-operation”, Number 10 said.
The Prime Minister was also meeting outgoing Italian Giuseppe Conte yesterday.
In the main business on the agenda, the leaders of the G7 nations considered measures on protecting the environment, although Donald Trump’s chair was conspicuously empty at the start of the session.
The US President is a climate change sceptic who once had claimed it is a hoax that was invented by the Chinese.
Mr Johnson used the session to highlight a pledge of £10m to help prevent the destruction of the Amazon.
As the G7 summit drew to a close, former prime minister Gordon Brown said the club, made up of some of the world’s richest democracies, was “impotent” because of its divisions.
Ahead of the summit, host Emmanuel Macron said there would not be a final communique, an agreed statement backed by all the leaders.
The 2018 G7 summit ended in farce as Mr Trump withdrew his support for the text and Mr Macron was keen to avoid a repeat performance.
Mr Brown told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “When you have got an organisation that cannot agree on a communique, that has got no agreed agenda, that’s got no agreement even on membership, and has broken down, as far as I can see, over the weekend into small huddles of individuals doing bilateral discussions – you’ve really got a leaderless world.
“It is rightly called by some the G Zero because the world seems to be more divided than I can remember.” premier