As the G20 meeting summits continue, President Trump met with the British PM Theresa May, and insisted that a UK-US trade deal is forthcoming and will be “a very powerful deal”.
At the bilateral meeting with the British PM Theresa May at G20, Trump expressed his support for Brexit and said he believed Britain would “thrive” once it left the EU, complemented with the support of a UK-US trade deal.
Since the UK has yet to officially leave the EU, formal talks between the UK and US cannot begin until March of 2019, without EU agreement. However, senior British officials, like Sir Christopher Meyer, are seeing Trump’s statement of intent as a “very good sign for the future”. Others are more skeptical as to Trump’s reliability and commitment to trade deal and don’t think a deal will be reached as soon as he says.
Another point of contention during the meeting was Trump’s response to his state visit to the UK, an invitation extended to Trump upon his Inauguration, but yet to be fulfilled. Several altercations have come up at each point in Trump’s plans to visit the UK, mainly the concerns of protests and demonstrations.
When asked about the visit during the meeting, President Trump confirmed that he will eventually be going to the UK, saying “I will be going to London.”
President Trump and Theresa May both praised the relationship between the two countries, with the U.S. President even saying “there is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries”. According to a readout from the meeting, the two leaders also discussed counterterrorism initiatives and foreign and security interests for both nations.
In other developing updates from the G20 summit, the members have reaffirmed their commitment to fighting terrorism, particularly in terms of improving collaboration and information-sharing among different nations. Chancellor Merkel also stressed the importance of alleviating the financing of terrorist operations, and the role the Financial Action Task Force plays in this regard.