Donald Trump predicted this morning that the US and UK will be able to agree terms on a 'very big' post-Brexit deal 'pretty quickly' as Boris Johnson urged him to reconsider his trade war with China.
Mr Trump gave Mr Johnson a boost as he insisted he was the 'right man' to take Britain out of the European Union on October 31 as the pair met in Biarritz for the first time since the latter became Prime Minister.
The long-anticipated meeting of the two men at the G7 summit saw Mr Trump lavish praise on Mr Johnson who he said did not need his advice on how to deliver Brexit.
Mr Trump said: ‘He needs no advice, he is the right man for the job. I have been saying that for a long time. It didn’t make your predecessor very happy, but I have been saying that for a long time.’
Mr Johnson jokingly said Mr Trump was 'on message there' as the US President then described the UK's EU membership as an 'anchor' and predicted a bright future for trans-Atlantic relations.
Donald Trump predicts 'very big' post-Brexit deal with UK will be done 'pretty quickly' and Boris Johnson urges the US President to reconsider his trade war with China as the PM prepares for No Deal showdown with Donald Tusk
Boris Johnson met Donald Trump this morning for a breakfast meeting in Biarritz at his debut G7 summit as PM
It was the first time the two men have met since Mr Johnson secured the keys to Downing Street in July
US President said Mr Johnson the 'right man' to deliver Brexit and predicted he will be a 'great prime minister'
Mr Trump said he believed the US and UK will strike a 'very big trade deal' and it would be done 'pretty quickly'
PM welcomed the US President's comments but warned NHS must be 'completely off limits' in trade talks
PM challenged Mr Trump over the wisdom of the US trade war with China as he said he favoured 'trade peace'
Sit down with Mr Trump came ahead of crunch talks with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council
Mr Johnson due to tell Mr Tusk that the UK will only pay £9 billion of the £39 billion Brexit bill if No Deal Brexit
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson is reportedly plotting fuel duty cut at a possible No Deal budget in the coming weeks
Talk of No Deal budget increases speculation that the Prime Minister could call a snap election for October
By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline
25 August 2019
Donald Trump predicted this morning that the US and UK will be able to agree terms on a 'very big' post-Brexit deal 'pretty quickly' as Boris Johnson urged him to reconsider his trade war with China.
Mr Trump gave Mr Johnson a boost as he insisted he was the 'right man' to take Britain out of the European Union on October 31 as the pair met in Biarritz for the first time since the latter became Prime Minister.
The long-anticipated meeting of the two men at the G7 summit saw Mr Trump lavish praise on Mr Johnson who he said did not need his advice on how to deliver Brexit.
Mr Trump said: ‘He needs no advice, he is the right man for the job. I have been saying that for a long time. It didn’t make your predecessor very happy, but I have been saying that for a long time.’
Mr Johnson jokingly said Mr Trump was 'on message there' as the US President then described the UK's EU membership as an 'anchor' and predicted a bright future for trans-Atlantic relations.
He said: ‘We are having very good trade talks between the UK and ourselves. We are going to do a very big trade deal, bigger than we have ever had with the UK.'
Mr Trump said a deal could be done 'pretty quickly' as he also claimed Mr Johnson would become a 'great prime minister' before he then took aim at Theresa May and accused her of having 'stymied' trade talks when she was PM.
Mr Johnson said he expected there to be 'tough talks ahead' as he warned the NHS will be 'completely off limits' during trade negotiations - something he said Mr Trump had agreed to.
But in a sign that the new special relationship could face bumps in the road, Mr Johnson also expressed concern about the US trade war with China as he said he favoured 'trade peace' over hiking tariffs.
The PM said: 'Look, I just want to say I congratulate the President on everything that the American economy is achieving. It's fantastic to see that.
'But just to register the faint, sheep-like note of our view on the trade war, we're in favor of trade peace on the whole, and dialing it down if we can.'
Boris Johnson met Donald Trump this morning in Biarritz for formal talks - the first time the pair have met since the former became PM
Mr Johnson was hoping to use this morning's meeting to lay the groundwork for a future US-UK trade deal
The British Prime Minister and US President have put in place the foundations of a strong political friendship. There have been almost weekly phone calls between the two men since Mr Johnson took office at the end of July.
Mr Johnson has told Mr Trump that the NHS will be 'completely off limits' in a post-Brexit trade deal
Their meeting came just hours before Mr Johnson was due to sit down with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, to tell him that Britain will only hand over £9 billion of the £39 billion Brexit divorce bill if there is a No Deal Brexit.
Mr Johnson and Mr Tusk clashed yesterday over who would be to blame if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement at the Halloween deadline, setting the scene for a fiery encounter in the French coastal town today.
Mr Johnson's meeting with Mr Trump followed reports that he will slash fuel duty at a potential No Deal budget in preparation for a snap general election in October.
The likelihood of Mr Johnson going to the country early appeared to increase today as a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times put the Tories 12 points ahead of Labour on 33 per cent in Westminster voting intention.
Speaking after he arrived in Biarritz yesterday, Mr Tusk had warned Mr Johnson not to go down in history as the man who took Britain out of the EU without an agreement.
But Mr Johnson hit back and said it was Mr Tusk who was at risk of being known as ‘Mr No Deal’ unless he gave ground and allowed the terms of Britain’s divorce from the bloc to be renegotiated.
Mr Johnson will today try to persuade his European counterpart to support a plan put forward by Angela Merkel and reluctantly backed by Emmanuel Macron to give the UK 30 days in which to come forward with alternatives to the Irish backstop.
Mr Tusk yesterday signalled he was open to listening to the UK's ideas but the war of words that followed may well have diminished hopes of Brexit progress being made.
Mr Johnson's meeting with Mr Trump came after he said overnight that the US would have to 'compromise' in order for a post-Brexit trans-Atlantic trade deal to be done.
The premier risked infuriating Mr Trump as he set out a number of negotiating red lines and said the White House would need to agree to slash bureaucratic red tape to allow British businesses greater access to the US market.
He also reiterated his stance that the NHS will not be up for grabs in the talks.
He said: 'When it comes to public procurement, the US has some very tough rules indeed, such is the strictness of the US's non-war-like rules that a British stationery is banned from sending any form of measuring tool such as a ruler or a tape measure to any branch of the US military which is the kind of restriction we do not have in this country.
'The point I am making is that there are massive opportunities for UK companies to open up, to prise open the American market. We intend to seize those opportunities but they are going to require our American friends to compromise and to open up their approach because currently there are too many restrictions.
'It goes without saying that there are sectors of the UK economy, not least the NHS, which remain completely off limits as far as any trade deal with America goes.
'We will not allow the NHS to be on the table at all.'
Both Mr Trump and Mr Johnson appeared to be in good spirits as they sat down together with their respective teams this morning
Mr Johnson had tried to flatter his US ally overnight after he said he was more popular in Britain than people think
Despite the warm words on trade, Mr Trump was rebuked by Mr Johnson over his trade war with China. Mr Johnson said he preferred 'trade peace' to hiking tariffs.
The UK Prime Minister and US President were pictured together, speaking alone, at the summit last night
Mr Johnson tweeted before his meeting with Mr Trump this morning that he wanted to lead an 'outward-looking, self-confident nation'
Mr Johnson also tried to flatter his new ally as he claimed Mr Trump is more popular in the UK than people think.
He told reporters: 'That's very likely. President Trump has pioneered a quite remarkable way of communicating directly with the electorate.
'My impression is that is also popular with large numbers of people in our country.'
Mr Johnson and Mr Trump have set in place the foundations of a strong friendship since the former took office in July with almost weekly phone calls, including one on the eve of the summit.
Despite his NHS warning and tough talk on trade, Mr Johnson's sit down with the US President was likely to be more straight forward than a showdown with Mr Tusk.
Mr Johnson is expected to deliver his Brexit bill threat in person to the president of the European Council at lunchtime.
The threat to withhold most of the £39 billion in the event of a chaotic split from Brussels came after Number 10's lawyers concluded that, in such a scenario, the total payment should be slashed to £9 billion - or even as little as £7 billion.
That is because the UK would not have to hand over any of the money associated with the transition period agreed as part of the original deal.
A No 10 source said: 'Boris wants to see fair terms for the UK's exit in return for the billions we are meant to pay.'
Following their breakfast meeting this morning, Mr Johnson and Mr Trump joined the other leaders of the G7 for their first working session of the three day summit
It was Mr Johnson's first opportunity since becoming PM in July to address the other leaders of the world's wealthiest nations together in one room
Mr Macron, the French president and host of the summit, was all smiles as he sat next to the US President and Angela Merkel at this morning's session
Mr Macron said at the start of the summit he wanted it to focus on addressing environmental challenges. However, a row over trade has dominated the get together so far.
A Government source said: 'The PM has always said it was a huge mistake for [Philip] Hammond to agree to the divorce bill before any Brexit deal had been finalised.'
The source added: 'If there is No Deal, Brussels will need to organise a whip round – they'll need to plug a huge hole from our contribution and they'll need billions' to keep Ireland afloat.'
Brussels is of the view that Britain must pay all of the £39 billion bill regardless of the terms of its departure.
Mr Johnson and Mr Tusk were already locked in a row after they clashed yesterday over who would go down in history as 'Mr No Deal'.
'He will be the third British Conservative prime minister with whom I will discuss Brexit,' Mr Tusk said.
'The EU was always open to co-operation when David Cameron wanted to avoid Brexit, when Theresa May wanted to avoid a No Deal Brexit, and we will also be ready now to hold serious talks with Prime Minister Johnson.
'One thing I will not co-operate on is No Deal. I still hope that Prime Minster Johnson will not like to go down in history as "Mr No Deal".
'We are willing to listen to ideas that are operational, realistic and acceptable to all member states including Ireland, if and when the UK Government is ready to put them on the table.'
Mr Johnson hit back and said: 'As I’ve made it absolutely clear, I don’t want a No Deal Brexit but I say to our friends in the EU: if they don’t want a No Deal Brexit then we’ve got to get rid of the backstop from the treaty.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk speaks during a press conference on the first day of the G7 summit in Biarritz, August 24
Boris Johnson arrived in Biarritz yesterday afternoon for his first G7 summit as UK Prime Minister
'If Donald Tusk doesn’t want to go down as "Mr No Deal Brexit" then I hope that point should be born in mind by him too.'
The EU is deeply sceptical that Britain will be able to come up with anything good enough to allow the border insurance policy to be scrapped.
The Irish backstop was inserted in the original Withdrawal Agreement to ensure there is no return to a hard border in the event Brussels and Britain cannot agree terms on a future trading relationship.
It would effectively see existing EU rules on customs kept in place to ensure frictionless trade on the island of Ireland could continue.
But Brexiteers hate it because if implemented it would last indefinitely, restrict the UK's ability to strike its own trade deal and getting out of it would require the agreement of both sides.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly labelled the protocol 'anti-democratic' since he won the keys to Downing Street last month.
Mr Macron set the bar high for replacing the backstop as he said on Thursday that the current protocol was 'indispensable'.
Mr Johnson flew into a Brexit storm yesterday as a furious war of words erupted between the PM and Mr Tusk
Mr Tusk had warned Mr Johnson against going down in history as 'Mr No Deal' but Mr Johnson hit back and said it was the European Council president who risked receiving the title
Mr Johnson reiterated yesterday that the UK will not introduce any 'checks or controls' at the Irish border and that he believed there are a 'large range of alternative arrangements' which could replace the backstop.
He also said he did not want to get into a debate with Mr Tusk about how either of them will be remembered.
He said: 'I have great relations with our friends and partners in the EU and intend to continue to improve them the whole time without getting into any post Brexit eschatology with the president of the council.
'I think it’s Parliament’s job now to respect not just the will of the people but to remember what the overwhelming majority of them promised to do over and over and over again and that is to get Brexit done, to respect the will of the people and to come out of the EU on October 31.
'That is what I am confident our Parliament will do. I am confident that they will understand that their historic function is to respect the will of the people, the democratic mandate, and get it done.'
Mr Johnson began the summit with a bilateral meeting with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
He dismissed suggestions that the G7 was a 'wonderful boondoggle here in some posh hotel in Biarritz'.
He said world leaders will be 'working flat out on issues that will make a material difference to the quality of life of everyone in our countries and around the world'.
He also stressed the importance of the alliance between the UK and Canada as he said the two nations are 'side by side' on all major issues.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7392069/Boris-Johnson-meets-Donald-Trump-time-PM.html
Mr Trump gave Mr Johnson a boost as he insisted he was the 'right man' to take Britain out of the European Union on October 31 as the pair met in Biarritz for the first time since the latter became Prime Minister.
The long-anticipated meeting of the two men at the G7 summit saw Mr Trump lavish praise on Mr Johnson who he said did not need his advice on how to deliver Brexit.
Mr Trump said: ‘He needs no advice, he is the right man for the job. I have been saying that for a long time. It didn’t make your predecessor very happy, but I have been saying that for a long time.’
Mr Johnson jokingly said Mr Trump was 'on message there' as the US President then described the UK's EU membership as an 'anchor' and predicted a bright future for trans-Atlantic relations.
Donald Trump predicts 'very big' post-Brexit deal with UK will be done 'pretty quickly' and Boris Johnson urges the US President to reconsider his trade war with China as the PM prepares for No Deal showdown with Donald Tusk
Boris Johnson met Donald Trump this morning for a breakfast meeting in Biarritz at his debut G7 summit as PM
It was the first time the two men have met since Mr Johnson secured the keys to Downing Street in July
US President said Mr Johnson the 'right man' to deliver Brexit and predicted he will be a 'great prime minister'
Mr Trump said he believed the US and UK will strike a 'very big trade deal' and it would be done 'pretty quickly'
PM welcomed the US President's comments but warned NHS must be 'completely off limits' in trade talks
PM challenged Mr Trump over the wisdom of the US trade war with China as he said he favoured 'trade peace'
Sit down with Mr Trump came ahead of crunch talks with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council
Mr Johnson due to tell Mr Tusk that the UK will only pay £9 billion of the £39 billion Brexit bill if No Deal Brexit
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson is reportedly plotting fuel duty cut at a possible No Deal budget in the coming weeks
Talk of No Deal budget increases speculation that the Prime Minister could call a snap election for October
By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline
25 August 2019
Donald Trump predicted this morning that the US and UK will be able to agree terms on a 'very big' post-Brexit deal 'pretty quickly' as Boris Johnson urged him to reconsider his trade war with China.
Mr Trump gave Mr Johnson a boost as he insisted he was the 'right man' to take Britain out of the European Union on October 31 as the pair met in Biarritz for the first time since the latter became Prime Minister.
The long-anticipated meeting of the two men at the G7 summit saw Mr Trump lavish praise on Mr Johnson who he said did not need his advice on how to deliver Brexit.
Mr Trump said: ‘He needs no advice, he is the right man for the job. I have been saying that for a long time. It didn’t make your predecessor very happy, but I have been saying that for a long time.’
Mr Johnson jokingly said Mr Trump was 'on message there' as the US President then described the UK's EU membership as an 'anchor' and predicted a bright future for trans-Atlantic relations.
He said: ‘We are having very good trade talks between the UK and ourselves. We are going to do a very big trade deal, bigger than we have ever had with the UK.'
Mr Trump said a deal could be done 'pretty quickly' as he also claimed Mr Johnson would become a 'great prime minister' before he then took aim at Theresa May and accused her of having 'stymied' trade talks when she was PM.
Mr Johnson said he expected there to be 'tough talks ahead' as he warned the NHS will be 'completely off limits' during trade negotiations - something he said Mr Trump had agreed to.
But in a sign that the new special relationship could face bumps in the road, Mr Johnson also expressed concern about the US trade war with China as he said he favoured 'trade peace' over hiking tariffs.
The PM said: 'Look, I just want to say I congratulate the President on everything that the American economy is achieving. It's fantastic to see that.
'But just to register the faint, sheep-like note of our view on the trade war, we're in favor of trade peace on the whole, and dialing it down if we can.'
Their meeting came just hours before Mr Johnson was due to sit down with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, to tell him that Britain will only hand over £9 billion of the £39 billion Brexit divorce bill if there is a No Deal Brexit.
Mr Johnson and Mr Tusk clashed yesterday over who would be to blame if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement at the Halloween deadline, setting the scene for a fiery encounter in the French coastal town today.
Mr Johnson's meeting with Mr Trump followed reports that he will slash fuel duty at a potential No Deal budget in preparation for a snap general election in October.
The likelihood of Mr Johnson going to the country early appeared to increase today as a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times put the Tories 12 points ahead of Labour on 33 per cent in Westminster voting intention.
Speaking after he arrived in Biarritz yesterday, Mr Tusk had warned Mr Johnson not to go down in history as the man who took Britain out of the EU without an agreement.
But Mr Johnson hit back and said it was Mr Tusk who was at risk of being known as ‘Mr No Deal’ unless he gave ground and allowed the terms of Britain’s divorce from the bloc to be renegotiated.
Mr Johnson will today try to persuade his European counterpart to support a plan put forward by Angela Merkel and reluctantly backed by Emmanuel Macron to give the UK 30 days in which to come forward with alternatives to the Irish backstop.
Mr Tusk yesterday signalled he was open to listening to the UK's ideas but the war of words that followed may well have diminished hopes of Brexit progress being made.
Mr Johnson's meeting with Mr Trump came after he said overnight that the US would have to 'compromise' in order for a post-Brexit trans-Atlantic trade deal to be done.
The premier risked infuriating Mr Trump as he set out a number of negotiating red lines and said the White House would need to agree to slash bureaucratic red tape to allow British businesses greater access to the US market.
He also reiterated his stance that the NHS will not be up for grabs in the talks.
He said: 'When it comes to public procurement, the US has some very tough rules indeed, such is the strictness of the US's non-war-like rules that a British stationery is banned from sending any form of measuring tool such as a ruler or a tape measure to any branch of the US military which is the kind of restriction we do not have in this country.
'The point I am making is that there are massive opportunities for UK companies to open up, to prise open the American market. We intend to seize those opportunities but they are going to require our American friends to compromise and to open up their approach because currently there are too many restrictions.
'It goes without saying that there are sectors of the UK economy, not least the NHS, which remain completely off limits as far as any trade deal with America goes.
'We will not allow the NHS to be on the table at all.'
Mr Johnson also tried to flatter his new ally as he claimed Mr Trump is more popular in the UK than people think.
He told reporters: 'That's very likely. President Trump has pioneered a quite remarkable way of communicating directly with the electorate.
'My impression is that is also popular with large numbers of people in our country.'
Mr Johnson and Mr Trump have set in place the foundations of a strong friendship since the former took office in July with almost weekly phone calls, including one on the eve of the summit.
Despite his NHS warning and tough talk on trade, Mr Johnson's sit down with the US President was likely to be more straight forward than a showdown with Mr Tusk.
Mr Johnson is expected to deliver his Brexit bill threat in person to the president of the European Council at lunchtime.
The threat to withhold most of the £39 billion in the event of a chaotic split from Brussels came after Number 10's lawyers concluded that, in such a scenario, the total payment should be slashed to £9 billion - or even as little as £7 billion.
That is because the UK would not have to hand over any of the money associated with the transition period agreed as part of the original deal.
A No 10 source said: 'Boris wants to see fair terms for the UK's exit in return for the billions we are meant to pay.'
A Government source said: 'The PM has always said it was a huge mistake for [Philip] Hammond to agree to the divorce bill before any Brexit deal had been finalised.'
The source added: 'If there is No Deal, Brussels will need to organise a whip round – they'll need to plug a huge hole from our contribution and they'll need billions' to keep Ireland afloat.'
Brussels is of the view that Britain must pay all of the £39 billion bill regardless of the terms of its departure.
Mr Johnson and Mr Tusk were already locked in a row after they clashed yesterday over who would go down in history as 'Mr No Deal'.
'He will be the third British Conservative prime minister with whom I will discuss Brexit,' Mr Tusk said.
'The EU was always open to co-operation when David Cameron wanted to avoid Brexit, when Theresa May wanted to avoid a No Deal Brexit, and we will also be ready now to hold serious talks with Prime Minister Johnson.
'One thing I will not co-operate on is No Deal. I still hope that Prime Minster Johnson will not like to go down in history as "Mr No Deal".
'We are willing to listen to ideas that are operational, realistic and acceptable to all member states including Ireland, if and when the UK Government is ready to put them on the table.'
Mr Johnson hit back and said: 'As I’ve made it absolutely clear, I don’t want a No Deal Brexit but I say to our friends in the EU: if they don’t want a No Deal Brexit then we’ve got to get rid of the backstop from the treaty.
'If Donald Tusk doesn’t want to go down as "Mr No Deal Brexit" then I hope that point should be born in mind by him too.'
The EU is deeply sceptical that Britain will be able to come up with anything good enough to allow the border insurance policy to be scrapped.
The Irish backstop was inserted in the original Withdrawal Agreement to ensure there is no return to a hard border in the event Brussels and Britain cannot agree terms on a future trading relationship.
It would effectively see existing EU rules on customs kept in place to ensure frictionless trade on the island of Ireland could continue.
But Brexiteers hate it because if implemented it would last indefinitely, restrict the UK's ability to strike its own trade deal and getting out of it would require the agreement of both sides.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly labelled the protocol 'anti-democratic' since he won the keys to Downing Street last month.
Mr Macron set the bar high for replacing the backstop as he said on Thursday that the current protocol was 'indispensable'.
Mr Johnson reiterated yesterday that the UK will not introduce any 'checks or controls' at the Irish border and that he believed there are a 'large range of alternative arrangements' which could replace the backstop.
He also said he did not want to get into a debate with Mr Tusk about how either of them will be remembered.
He said: 'I have great relations with our friends and partners in the EU and intend to continue to improve them the whole time without getting into any post Brexit eschatology with the president of the council.
'I think it’s Parliament’s job now to respect not just the will of the people but to remember what the overwhelming majority of them promised to do over and over and over again and that is to get Brexit done, to respect the will of the people and to come out of the EU on October 31.
'That is what I am confident our Parliament will do. I am confident that they will understand that their historic function is to respect the will of the people, the democratic mandate, and get it done.'
Mr Johnson began the summit with a bilateral meeting with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
He dismissed suggestions that the G7 was a 'wonderful boondoggle here in some posh hotel in Biarritz'.
He said world leaders will be 'working flat out on issues that will make a material difference to the quality of life of everyone in our countries and around the world'.
He also stressed the importance of the alliance between the UK and Canada as he said the two nations are 'side by side' on all major issues.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7392069/Boris-Johnson-meets-Donald-Trump-time-PM.html
