Trump To UK: Don’t Pay EU Divorce Bill
U.S President Donald Trump advised UK
to “walk away” from the Brexit talks if the European Union fails to give London
what they want. He also said that UK should not pay the 39-billion-pound EU
divorce bill.
“They’ve got to get it done,” Trump
said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper ahead of his state visit
to Britain beginning on Monday. “They have got to get the deal closed.”
“If they don’t get what they want, I
would walk away. If you don’t get a fair deal, you walk away.”
He added, “If I were them, I wouldn’t
pay 50 billion dollars. That is a tremendous number.”
The U.S President was referring to
settlement of commitments made by the United Kingdom under the ongoing European
multi-year budget (2014-2020) which also covers the transitional period
provided for in the London-Brussels divorce agreement of November.
During the interview, Trump also
mentioned that Conservatives should include Brexit party leader Nigel Farage in
negotiations with Brussels considering his party topped the European parliament
election last month.
“I really like Nigel. He has a lot to
offer, he is a very smart person.
They won’t bring him in but think how well they would do if they did.
They just haven’t figured that out yet.” said the US president, before
promising a free trade agreement between the United States and the United
Kingdom as soon as London leaves the European Union.
“We have the potential to be an
incredible business partner for the UK. We do not do much compared to what we
could do with the United Kingdom … I think much more than with the European
Union,” he said.
Trump reiterated that he would
support whoever would take over Prime Minister Theresa May’s post.
The American President suggested that
former foreign secretary Boris Johnson would be a good replacement for Theresa
May. “Boris would do a very good job […] I think it would be excellent,” said
the U.S President, ignoring no less than 13 other candidates who are currently
in the running.
Of course, Johnson himself
has not shied away from expressing his admiration for Trump.