Trump weighs in on Brexit. He likes Boris Johnson, but not his deal

President Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the United Nations in September. Photo / Doug Mills, The New York Times

President Trump called in to a London radio show and said an agreement that the British prime minister had negotiated to leave the European Union had problems.

If there was any doubt that President Donald Trump would try to play a role in Britain's general election, he put it to rest Thursday, calling in to a London radio show to praise Prime Minister Boris Johnson, disparage his Labour Party opponent, and weigh in on a range of other politically fraught topics, including a potential trade deal between Britain and the United States.

While Trump called Johnson a "fantastic guy" with whom he had a "great friendship," the president claimed that the withdrawal agreement Johnson recently negotiated with the European Union could hamper a future agreement between the United States and Britain.

"We want to do trade with the UK, but to be honest with you, this deal, under certain aspects of the deal, you can't do it," Trump said to the show's host, Nigel Farage, who is also the leader of the Brexit Party and favors leaving the EU without any deal. "You can't trade. We can't make a trade deal with the UK."

Johnson has said that Brexit would open the door to a lucrative new deal with the United States — one that he would be well-placed to negotiate because of his warm relationship with Trump. So the president's comments posed a problem for the prime minister, who is on his second day of campaigning for the British election December 12.

Trump did not explain why Johnson's deal with Brussels would hinder one with Washington. It apparently has to do with technical provisions known as geographical indications. Trade experts split on how much of a hurdle they pose, but the details mattered less than the theatrics.

As Johnson and the Labor leader, Jeremy Corbyn, took to the campaign trail to begin framing their messages, Trump stole the limelight by giving a freewheeling interview to Farage, an insurgent figure who leads a fringe party that could inflict damage on both Labour and Johnson's Conservatives.

"I'd like to see you and Boris get together because you would have some real numbers," Trump said to Farage, who has proposed aligning with the Conservatives but has been rebuffed by Johnson.

"I have enough to do over here without having to worry about the psychology of two brilliant people over there, frankly," Trump added. "I wish you two guys could get together. I think it would be a great thing."

Trump saved most of his vitriol for Corbyn, who has painted the president as a predatory rival eager to use trade negotiations to gain access for US companies to Britain's National Health Service.

"He'd be so bad; he'd take you in such a bad way," Trump said, "He'd take you into such bad places." Noting that he had never met Corbyn, he added, "I'm sure he's a lovely man, but he's of a different persuasion."

Corbyn promptly fired back on Twitter, saying that Trump "is trying to interfere in Britain's election to get his friend Boris Johnson elected." He added that Trump has long had designs on the National Health Service and "knows if Labour wins, US corporations won't get their hands on it."

Trump was generous to Johnson, praising his efforts to take Britain out of the E.U. as quickly as possible. "He's willing to do what no one else would do," the president said.

But the only clear winner from Trump's intervention was Farage, whose Brexit party has been casting around for ways to influence the election.

Johnson had hoped to neutralise the party by negotiating Britain's departure from the EU by October 31. But he failed to win approval in Parliament for his deal with Brussels and was forced to ask European leaders for a three-month extension.

Johnson plans to campaign on that deal as the swiftest route to Brexit. But Farage has called on the prime minister to drop the deal and leave the EU with what he calls a "clean break." The Brexit Party is debating how many candidates to field and how aggressively to go after Conservative-held seats.

Written by: Mark Landler

Photographs by: Doug Mills

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