Trump applauds Brexit in fresh irritant for May
US President-elect Donald Trump has called Britons “smart” for voting to exit the European Union and foresaw the dismantling of the grouping, in a wide-ranging interview that rocked Westminster on Monday.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who will try to outline her Brexit plan in a speech on Tuesday, is yet to get an appointment with Trump.
The interview was more of an irritant for May because it was given to Michael Gove, Conservative MP and one of the contenders for her job after David Cameron quit as prime minister following the June 23 referendum.
Gove, a leading Brexiteer, interviewed Trump for The Times, where he is now a columnist. It was Trump’s first interview with a British publication.
Promising a quick trade deal after Brexit – unlike President Barack Obama, who said before the referendum Britain would be “back of the queue” if it voted to exit the EU – Trump said he could understand why voters chose to leave the bloc.
He said: “You look at the European Union and it’s... basically a vehicle for Germany. That’s why I thought the UK was so smart in getting out… I believe others will leave (the EU). I do think keeping it together is not gonna be as easy as a lot of people think.”
Critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for welcoming refugees, Trump said: “I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from. And nobody even knows where they come from.
“People, countries, want their own identity and the UK wanted its own identity. But I do believe this: if they hadn’t been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many, with all the problems that it… entails, I think that you wouldn’t have a Brexit.”
Asked if he would push ahead with a trade deal with Britain after Brexit, Trump said, “Absolutely, very quickly. I’m a big fan of the UK. We’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly.”
Trump also said he was keen to meet May right after his inauguration.