Trump: Boris is my mate!

DONALD Trump risked sparking a diplomatic incident ahead of his visit to the UK by saying the country is ‘in turmoil’ and refusing to endorse Theresa May as PM.

The US President said it was ‘up to the people’ of Britain to decide whether Mrs May stayed on in Downing Street.

He also heaped praise on his ‘friend’ Boris Johnson – who dramatically resigned from government over Brexit – and suggested he could meet him during the trip. The comments come just days before he is due to fly into the country for a long-awaited working visit.

There are already fears of tensions after he publicly clashed with Mrs May over criticism of crime levels in London, the performance of the NHS, and retweeting posts from a far-right group.

Speaking to journalists as he set off for Europe, Mr Trump said there were a ‘lot of things’ going on in the UK at the moment and the country seemed to be ‘somewhat in turmoil’.

“Boris Johnson’s a friend of mine. He’s been very, very nice to me. Very supportive,” said Mr Trump.

“And maybe we’ll speak to him when I get over there.

“I like Boris Johnson. I’ve always liked him.”

However, he added that he had a ‘very good relationship’ with Mrs May.

Mr Trump joked that his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin might be the ‘easiest’ leg of his trip to Europe.

He said: “So I have Nato, I have the UK – that’s a situation with turmoil. And I have Putin. Frankly, Putin may be the easiest of all.”

On his trip to Europe, he added: “It’s going to be an interesting time in the UK and an interesting time at Nato.

“We will work it out and all countries will be happy.”