President Trump lobbed a volley of verbal grenades at British Prime Minister Theresa May in a tabloid interview before he arrived in the UK, saying May had botched Brexit and praising the former foreign secretary as a potential prime minister. Special correspondent Ryan Chilcote joins Judy Woodruff from London to discuss the fallout from the visit.
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JUDY WOODRUFF:
News of the Russia indictments came as President Trump was in Britain. But his visit to one of America’s closest friends was greeted by a storm of protesters and by a storm he created with new potshots at Britain’s leader.
Ryan Chilcote begins our coverage.
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RYAN CHILCOTE:
This was the picture President Trump had long sought, an audience with Queen Elizabeth, a military honor guard standing at attention at Windsor Castle, followed by tea with the 92-year-old monarch.
But the courtly scene followed a day of chaos, after Mr. Trump lobbed a volley of verbal grenades squarely at British Prime Minister Theresa May.
In an interview conducted with The Sun tabloid before he arrived, the president said may botched Britain’s leaving the European Union. And he warned that’s endangered a potential trade deal with the United States.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
I did give Theresa, who I like — I did give her my views on what she should do and how she should negotiate. And she didn’t follow those views. I would actually say she probably went the opposite way.
It will definitely affect trade with the United States, unfortunately in a negative way.
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RYAN CHILCOTE:
The broadside struck a prime minister already weakened by resignations from her government this week over Brexit. Mr. Trump even praised one of those who quit, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, as a potential prime minister. He’s said to covet the job.
On the heels of those headlines, the president arrived midday at Chequers, the prime minister’s retreat outside London. After a meeting and lunch with May, both leaders took questions.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
I didn’t criticize the prime minister. I have a lot of respect for the prime minister.
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DONALD TRUMP:
Unfortunately, there was a story that was done, which was, you know, generally fine, but it didn’t put in what I said about the prime minister. And I said tremendous things. But we record when we deal with reporters. It’s called fake news.
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RYAN CHILCOTE:
As far as May was concerned, publicly at, least it was much ado about nothing.
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THERESA MAY:
We agreed today that, as the U.K. leaves the European Union, we will pursue an ambitious U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
I just think it’s changing the culture. I think it’s a very negative thing for Europe. And…
