‘Celebrate Boris!’ Trump promises ‘massive new trade deal’
Donald Trump has congratulated Boris Johnson on his huge election win and is promising a “massive” post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and US.
Free to pass comment on the vote after sort of but not really staying out of it during his trip to London for a NATO summit earlier this month, Mr Trump tweeted: “Congratulations to Boris Johnson on his great WIN!
“Britain and the United States will now be free to strike a massive new Trade Deal after BREXIT. This deal has the potential to be far bigger and more lucrative than any deal that could be made with the E.U. Celebrate Boris!”
The president has spoken fondly of Mr Johnson since he was elected as Conservative Party leader in the summer, succeeding Theresa May in Downing Street.
Mr Trump has described the prime minister as a friend and has repeatedly pledged that the pair would strike an impressive new trade deal once the UK leaves the EU, which is now all set to go ahead on 31 January.
During the NATO summit last week, Mr Trump promised he would stay out of the general election but went on to lavish praise upon the Tory leader.
He said he was a “fan of Brexit” and that Mr Johnson was “very capable” and would “do a good job”.
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Mr Trump also boasted that they discussed trade during a meeting in Number 10, which saw Labour ramp up its rhetoric that the talks would see the NHS put “on the table”.
Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said at the time that a Labour government would “stop our NHS being sold off in a toxic trade deal” with the US president, but his message clearly failed to cut through.
Mr Trump said he wants “nothing to do” with the NHS.
“We have absolutely nothing to do with it, and we wouldn’t want to. If you handed it to us on a silver platter, we’d want nothing to do with it,” he said during the NATO summit.
Mr Corbyn endured a horrendous set of election results, with Mr Johnson winning a huge majority by tearing seats from the opposition in its traditional heartlands.
The Conservatives are set to have a majority between 78 and 82 when the counting is complete.
