US President Donald Trump confirmed today that he will be coming to London, and said he thinks a trade deal with the UK will be completed very, very quickly.
T
rump made the comments while speaking today at the G20 summit in Hamburg, where he met the Prime Minister for talks.
Theresa May is discussing her ambitions for post-Brexit trade deals with the US and Japan on the final day of the G20 summit, as leaders battle through very difficult talks.
Trump said he anticipates an agreement on new trading arrangements with Britain to be a “very powerful” one that would work “great for both countries”.
May and Trump’s bilateral meeting today is expected to span trade, climate change, and terrorism.
The President did not provide more detail on when he’ll be coming to the capital, saying: “We’ll work that out.” But the confirmation comes after speculation over when Trump would be making a visit, with the expectation that there could be large-scale protests when he did arrive, and the omission of any mention of a visit during the Queen’s speech last month.
The Prime Minister will also meet Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with talks expected to focus on trade.
The talks come after May yesterday pledged that Britain would be bold going forwards. Lord Hague had warned earlier in the week of Britain’s waning influence with Brexit on the horizon, and May looked to shrug off question marks over her leadership after the June election backfired and left the Conservatives without a majority, rather than strengthening her hand for Brexit negotiations.
The discussions with the US President come against a backdrop of tension though, as Trump’s stance on trade and climate change – announcing he would withdraw the US from the Paris agreement last month – has proved tricky for other world leaders.
May said she will be broaching the subject and encouraging the President to reconsider his decision.
Yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that talks on agreeing language on trade were turning out to be very difficult.
Merkel said: The discussions are very difficult, I don’t want to talk around that.
The German leader also added that she hoped differences with the US will not affect other nations’ commitments.