LONDON – President Donald Trump predicted Tuesday that Britain would follow through with its plans to leave the European Union and said the exit would be “very good” for the country.
“I think it will happen, and it probably should happen,” Trump said at a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
May, who is leaving office on Friday after failing to arrange Britain’s exit from the E.U., said she still believes it is in the country’s best interests to leave with an agreement for withdrawal. But she said she would not take Trump’s suggestion and “stick around” so the U.S. and U.K. can negotiate a trade deal once Britain departs the E.U.
“I’m a woman of my word,” she said, emphasizing that she will leave office as planned.
Trump said the United States is committed to negotiating "a phenomenal" trade deal with Britain.
The joint news conference between the two leaders came as Trump's state visit to Britain shifted gears from pomp and pageantry to talks over a range of policy issues from climate to Iran that the close allies disagree over.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump told May at a meeting with U.S. and British business leaders that she should "stick around" so the two nations can do a trade deal. "Let’s do this deal," Trump said to May at the event, at St. James’s Palace in London.
May formally relinquishes her role as prime minister on Friday.
Trump is spending three days in Britain with first lady Melania Trump and his adult children. The trip is aimed at celebrating the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States before Trump travels to Ireland and France for bilateral meetings and a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
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On Monday, the Trumps visited Buckingham Palace, where they met the queen and her son and heir Prince Charles. They were feted at a lavish banquet where Britain's 93-year-old monarch toasted an alliance that ensured "the safety and prosperity of both our peoples for decades." Trump spoke of the two nations' "eternal friendship."
But Tuesday's schedule turned more to politics and will highlight fresh uncertainty in the allies' storied relationship, not least because of May's impending departure as Britain's leader. From Friday, May will be in a caretaker role as her ruling Conservative Party begins a weeks-long process to succeed her as prime minister.
May stepped down after failing to arrange Britain's exit from the EU, now delayed until at least Oct. 31, unless both sides agree to an extension. Trump has stated that his British political ally Nigel Farage, an outspoken advocate of leaving the EU without a deal, should be given a role in the negotiations. He has also taken the unusual diplomatic step of advocating for his "friend" Boris Johnson – a prominent U.S.-born, gaffe-prone politician who campaigned to leave the bloc – to be Britain's new leader.
"Big Trade Deal is possible once U.K. gets rid of the shackles. Already starting to talk," Trump tweeted Monday, referring to the country's potential opportunity to sign a bilateral trade accord with the U.S. once it leaves the EU, known as Brexit.
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Trump and May met with American and British corporate executives including CEOs and senior representatives from BAE Systems, GlaxoSmithKline, Barclays, Reckitt Benckiser, JP Morgan, Lockheed Martin and Goldman Sachs International. His daughter Ivanka Trump, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also attended the business roundtable.
May said trade between Britain and the U.S. last year was worth almost $240 billion.
She said British companies employ a million people across the U.S, and that "every morning, a million people in the U.K. go to work for American employers in the U.K."
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters poured into central London to take part in a "Carnival of Resistance" in opposition to Trump. Environmental activists, anti-racism campaigners and women’s rights protesters will take to the streets around Parliament Square to declare a "Trump-free zone." Also participating: The phone-wielding, diaper-wearing inflatable blimp known as "Trump Baby."
Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who boycotted the state dinner, tweeted the protests were "an opportunity to stand in solidarity with those (Trump) has attacked in America, around the world and in our own country," including London's Mayor Sadiq Khan. Trump called him a "stone cold loser" just before arriving in Britain.
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