Trump says 'up to the people' whether to back Prime Minister May

By Roberta Rampton

 

U.S. President Donald Trump introduces his Supreme Court nominee judge Brett Kavanaugh in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 9, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday acknowledged that his upcoming visit with British Prime Minister Theresa May comes during a time of "turmoil" in her country and said it was up to the British people to decide whether May remains in power.

 

Answering a reporter's question over whether May would stay in power, Trump said as he set off on a trip to Europe, "That's up to the people. I get along with her very well, I have a very good relationship."

 

May is grappling with a political crisis in London after Brexit Secretary David Davis and her foreign minister, Boris Johnson, resigned over her proposals for a “business friendly” Brexit, or exit from the European Union.

 

Trump, who said he has not spoken with May since the resignations, described Johnson as a "friend of mine" and said he might speak with him during the trip.

 

"He's been very, very nice to me, very supportive. Maybe we'll speak to him when I get over there. I like Boris Johnson. I've always liked him," Trump said as he departed from the White House.

 

Johnson, the face of Brexit for many British voters, said in his resignation letter that May was proposing a "semi-Brexit." Contact with him by the U.S. president during his visit would be seen by many as an insult to May.

 

"Brexit should be about opportunity and hope," Johnson said in his letter to May on Monday. "That dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt."

 

Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election shocked British diplomats in Washington and relations between May and Trump have been strained at times. Anti-Trump protesters are expected to take to the streets of London during his visit to Britain.

 

The enduring image of May's visit to the White House in January 2017, when she became the first foreign leader to meet the president after he took office, was Trump taking May's hand to help her down the steps of the White House colonnade.

 

Trump's week-long trip to Europe includes a meeting in Brussels with NATO partners, who he has accused of not paying their way, and a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Finnish capital Helsinki.

 

In between, he will be in Britain, with a black tie dinner hosted by May on Thursday and a working visit with the prime minister on Friday.

 

"I have NATO, I have the UK, which is in somewhat turmoil, and I have Putin," Trump said of his trip. "Frankly, Putin may be the easiest of them all. Who would think?"

 

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London; Editing by Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-11

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

it was up to the British people to decide whether May remains in power.

Thank you President Trump

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Trump says 'up to the people' whether to back Prime Minister May

How generous of him. I guess even Trump understands his limitations of power. Who could have thought that? 

I guess the one that sees the opportunity of making a book about "US Presidents and their most stupid comments", will have the first twenty chapters done by only quoting this man.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Trump, who said he has not spoken with May since the resignations, described Johnson as a "friend of mine" and said he might speak with him during the trip.

They have at least one thing in common: their respective hairdressers are both crooks.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

and said it was up to the British people to decide whether May remains in power

what a magnanimous thing to say, a statesman in the making.

"Brexit should be about opportunity and hope," Johnson said in his letter to May on Monday. "That dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt."

No one is as sure of himself as a fool, and Boris is part fool, part idiot.

Trump says he might visit his good friend Boris on trip... Maybe UK can deny Trump entrance on grounds of threat to national security. Nothing good will come from his visit, guaranteed, unless it knocks BJ even lower in estimation of Brits.

Good on ya Trumpy. He just has to say one sensible sentence and all the worms come out of the woodwork. He is an achiever Probably the greatest President the USA has ever had!!

6 minutes ago, Thomas33399 said:

Good on ya Trumpy. He just has to say one sensible sentence and all the worms come out of the woodwork. He is an achiever Probably the greatest President the USA has ever had!!

We're still waiting for that one sensible sentence.

6 hours ago, Topdoc said:

6 hours ago, webfact said:

it was up to the British people to decide whether May remains in power.

Thank you President Trump

 

Is it also up to the people who stays in power in Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Syria ?

Would be great !

5 minutes ago, maximillian said:

 

Is it also up to the people who stays in power in Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Syria ?

Would be great !

Really? In every one of those nation the majority of people choose their governments freely and without coercion?

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Donald Trump ... said it was up to the British people to decide whether May remains in power.

Well, that was big of him ... considering it has nothing to do with him, nor with the US.

2 hours ago, bristolboy said:

We're still waiting for that one sensible sentence.

What would you consider sensible reply to the question ? 

"whether May would stay in power",

How would you answer that question ?

Not Trump's business. Keep your nose out of UK  affairs.

And every other countries for that matter.