John Bolton Says Trump Eager for Trade Deal With Post-Brexit Britain
Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said on Friday that the President is eager for a U.S. trade deal with Britain once it leaves the European Union, in a sign that the Trump administration is growing impatient with delays to Brexit.
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With the prospect of a leaving the European Union without a deal looming over the UK, any reassurance of economic stability seems to be welcomed with open arms by the Brits.
The latest in line to offer some semblance of a deal to the UK was the US, whose national security adviser told Reuters that President Donald Trump is eager to establish a trade deal with Britain once it breaks away from the European Union.
“President Trump remains very eager to cut a bilateral trade deal with an independent Britain. It’s what the people voted for in 2016, and when they get out, whether it’s now, April 12 or later, we’ll be standing right there waiting for them,” Bolton said in an interview with Reuters Television.
“It’s very complicated inside Britain,” said Bolton. “I know they’re going through a lot of turmoil. But really I think the president would like to reassure the people of the United Kingdom how strongly we feel, that we want to be there when they do come out of the European Union.”
He said Trump empathizes with May but would not comment on whether May should step down. Trump recently said that he wished Theresa May well as she tries to establish a Brexit deal that will be able to pass Parliament. Her third attempt at passing a deal, however, failed on Friday.
“I think the president sympathizes with anybody going through some of the pressure that Prime minister May is. He’s certainly seen his share of it and I think being a man who empathizes with people in that position that’s what he’s expressing. But I’m sure it’s not appropriate for us to speculate really on what the prime minister should do, or her party.”
When asked about a second referendum on Brexit, Bolton was firm in his attitude that the 2016 vote was clear and ultimate.
“In the European Union, they like to say, ‘we make the people vote until they get it right,’ meaning pro-EU votes. So I guess I’d say if you’re going to hold a second referendum and ‘remain’ wins, they ought to hold a third referendum and call it best two out of three,” said Bolton.
In a second interview with Sky News, Bolton said that the British should not fear a no-deal scenario, despite the Parliament’s inability to agree on a deal even after extensions.
“People who worry about the United Kingdom crashing out of the European Union – they are going to crash right into the United States,” he told reporters.
Bolton also attacked a statement made by former President Barack Obama regarding the countries’ bilateral relations. Back in April 2016, Obama told then-prime minister David Cameron that “the UK is going to be at the back of the queue” to make a trade deal with the United States.
“The people in Great Britain need to know this is the top of the priority. This isn’t the Obama administration – Britain will be at the top of the queue for us,” he noted.
(Banner image: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons)