Trump ‘will consider 2020 Plymouth visit’

Mayflower 400 invite ‘enticing’

The most senior American diplomat has said US President Donald Trump “would absolutely consider” an invitation to visit Plymouth.

Robert “Woody” Johnson, right, US Ambassador to the UK, was visiting the city to tour the USS New York, on her way home from a Nato exercise, and to learn about preparations for the Mayflower 400 celebrations.

Plymouth was the last stop before the New World for the Pilgrim Fathers on their voyage in 1620.

Mr Johnson said if Brexit offered the possibility of a new transatlantic trade deal, “the President will get on it immediately and get it done”.

US President Donald Trump is likely to be keen to visit Plymouth for the Mayflower 400 celebrations in 2020, his Ambassador to the UK says.

Robert “Woody” Johnson, speaking during a visit to the city yesterday, said he was not aware of the invitation issued by Plymouth City Council in 2013, before Mr Trump’s election.

But he said: “I know that President Trump would absolutely consider such an enticing offer.”

Mr Johnson, the United States’ most senior diplomat, visited the USS New York, which arrived in Plymouth on Tuesday. The warship has been taking part in joint Nato exercises in Norway.

Speaking on the bridge of the ship, Mr Johnson said: “The message I would like to get across on Brexit and our relationship is that our relationship with the UK is strong and unbelievable. It’s our most important relationship both in security and prosperity.

“While we go through times when we may not understand the other’s exact course, no matter what happens in Brexit, you can be assured the United States will be your best ally.

“I know that you feel the same way about the US. As long as we stay on that course. “It’s important to keep that in mind. In an uncertain world you need your friends and you need your allies. You can’t do it alone.”

He said there was “enormous” potential for trade deals with the United States. “The President has been very clear, that if there is enough room in the Brexit deal for a robust trade deal with the United States, he will get on it immediately and get it done.

“You have the prospect of an enormous trade deal that will provide huge increases in the already robust trade arrangements between our countries.

“We have a great array of products that we can sell you and you have an unbelievable array of products that you can sell us, and the mix of those two will make us both much more prosperous and secure.

“Our international relationship is extremely important We have no better ally and no better partner than the UK.”

Asked if the USS New York’s involvement in the biggest Nato exercise since the 1980s was designed to send a message to the Russians, he did not comment.

But he said: “I think we should do it again. You con- stantly have to practise. That’s where the US and the UK are at our best.”

Mr Johnson was given a tour of historic sites on the Barbican by Adrian Vinken, chair of the Mayflower 400 National Partnership, and Charles Hackett, chief executive of Mayflower 400.

In 2020, the two countries will celebrate 400 years since the Pilgrim Fathers left Plymouth on board the Mayflower, bound for the New World.

Mr Johnson said that Americans learned about their Founding Fathers at school, but the Mayflower story was not at the forefront of the American mind.

“Everybody has heard of the Mayflower, but part of the task between now and 2020, 400 years after the pioneers got on the Mayflower, is to tell the story and bring it to life.

“You’ve got a pretty good window. We Americans have a short attention span, so you’re going to have to be creative in the way that story is told to get everybody interested.

“But I think it’s a very important story.

“This port is so famous and so old and such a great, natural port. Just absorbing even a fraction of the history is a real honour for me and extremely interesting.”

The Ambassador was at Wembley on Thursday night to watch the England v United States friendly match, which England won 3-0. He owns the New York Jets American football team which, since has appointment as ambassador, has been run by his brother.

He said: “I thought England played extremely well. They dominated and you could see the talent level that enabled you to achieve the success you had last summer. It was very impressive.”

Adrian Vinken said later that any political invitation to the American government for 2020 would have to come from the British government.

“We are anticipating that there will be very senior representatives from the UK, the United States, the Netherlands and the Wampanoag nation – the Native American people encountered by the first Europeans to land in Massachussets.

He said that preparations in Plymouth were “on course – just”. “The building programmes are tight, but we are cautiously optimistic that they can be ready.

‘We have no better ally and no better partner than the UK’

Robert ‘Woody’ Johnson