US President Donald Trump has said former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson would be an "excellent" choice as the next prime minister of the UK. He also suggested that the American wife of Prince Harry was "nasty."
Image: picture-alliance/empics/B. Lawless
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US President Donald Trump has once more waded into British domestic politics, giving his opinion on who he thinks would be a good successor to current Prime Minister Theresa May, who is set to resign on June 7.
"I have actually studied it very hard. I know the different players," he told TheSun tabloid in an interview published late on Friday.
Trump's comments on British domestic politics are a deviation from standard presidential practice Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
Prized endorsements
Trump told the newspaper that his endorsement had also been sought by other candidates for the position and that his good opinion would vastly raise any candidate's chance of being chosen.
"I don't want to say who but other people have asked me for endorsements, yes," he said. "I could help anybody if I endorse them. I mean, we've had endorsements where they have gone up for forty, fifty points at a shot."
"I think that the UK allowed the European Union to have all the cards. And it is very hard to play well when one side has all the advantages," he said.
May's resignation has come about because of her failure to produce any deal to bring Britain out of the EU that was acceptable to a parliamentary majority. The scheduled date of departure, initially March 29, has now been delayed to October 31.
May has thrice failed to get her deal through ParliamentImage: Reuters/T. Melville
Lese-noblesse?
Trump also had harsh words to say about the wife of British Prince Harry, American former actress Meghan Markle, who had criticized the ex-reality show host during his 2016 presidential campaign.
"What can I say? I didn't know that she was nasty," he said of the now Duchess of Sussex, adding, however, that she would do "excellently" in her royal role.
Markle made comments on TV in 2016 in which she called Trump misogynistic and divisive, and even said she would move to Canada if he became president.
During his three-day visit to Britain starting Monday, the president will be meeting with other members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II and Harry's father, Prince Charles, but no meeting with the duchess is planned.
During his first visit to the UK, Trump was met with an inflatable image of himself Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA/London NEws Pictures/J. Goodman
The US president went on to express confidence that he would receive a warm welcome in Britain, despite the protests that are expected to accompany his visit.
"I think I am really — I hope — I am really loved in the UK," he said.
Following Theresa May's resignation as Tory leader on June 7, there are several Conservative candidates going into the first round of voting to replace her as party leader, and as a consequence, UK prime minister.
Image: picture-alliance/Newscom
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson is the bookmakers' favorite to become Britain's next prime minister. "BoJo" is widely tipped following stints as mayor of London and as foreign secretary in Theresa May's government. The 54-year-old has threatened to refuse to pay the UK's agreed debts to the EU unless the withdrawal agreement is changed.
Image: Reuters/A. Yates
Michael Gove
A leading driver behind Brexit, Gove's leadership campaign took a hit when a new book was published revealing he had taken cocaine on several occasions when working as a journalist 20 years ago.
Image: Getty Images/C. J. Ratcliff
Jeremy Hunt
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt's chances improved as Gove's declined. The 52-year-old voted to remain in the EU and claimed he had spoken to Chancellor Angela Merkel about Brexit during the D-Day celebrations. He said she told him: "Germany doesn’t have a border with the Republic of Ireland, you do, so you need to come up with a solution."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Pezzali
Sajid Javid
The son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver, Sajid Javid is the current UK Home Secretary (interior minister), a role for which he has received mixed reviews. He had a successful banking career with Chase Manhattan and Deutsche Bank before entering parliament in 2010. During the Brexit referendum, Javid was on the Remain side but — like Theresa May — was guarded in his support for the cause.
Image: Reuters/T. Melville
Rory Stewart
Educated at Eton College — the same school attended by Boris Johnson and David Cameron — Rory Stewart is currently International Development Secretary. A former diplomat who trekked thousands of kilometers across the Middle East and South Asia, he also served as a senior official governing parts of post-invasion Iraq. Stewart is strongly opposed to Britain leaving without a deal.
Image: Reuters/H. Nicholls
Dominic Raab
Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, the son of a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany, said the possibility of sidelining parliament to force through Brexit should not be ruled out. He was widely mocked in 2018 when he said he "hadn't quite understood" how reliant UK trade is on the Dover-Calais crossing. Raab fell out of the race after getting 30 votes in the second round, 3 fewer than needed.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Dunham
Matt Hancock
Health Secretary Matt Hancock entered the race to replace the PM the day after her resignation. Although he campaigned for Remain during the referendum, Hancock has said he now believes Britain should leave the EU with a deal. Probably the most tech-savvy of the contenders, Hancock received barely enough support to continue after the first round of voting and opted to drop out of consideration.
Image: Imago/P. Maclaine
Esther McVey
Former television presenter Esther McVey declared her intention to stand long before May resigned. The vocal Brexit hardliner resigned as work and pensions secretary in November, protesting at the terms of May's withdrawal deal. She is no longer a contender after getting only 9 votes of 313 in the first round of voting.
Image: Getty Images/L. Neal
Andrea Leadsom
Leadsom quit as Leader of the House of Commons the week of May's resignation announcement. She came second in a leadership bid in 2016 but was criticized at the time for saying that being a mother would give her an advantage as prime minister after May had previously spoken of her anguish at not being able to conceive. Leadsom is out of the race after getting only 11 votes in the first round.
A former immigration minister and chief whip, Harper was behind the Home Office's "go home" message to immigrants printed on vans. He said it is not credible Brexit could be renegotiated and passed before the end of October. An outsider in the leadership race, Harper is no longer under consideration after he got only 10 votes in the first round of selection.
