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Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister May of the United Kingdom in Joint Press Conference
The only think I ask is that she work it out so that we can have very even trade, because we do not have a fair deal with the European Union, right now, on trade. They treat the United States horribly. And that's going to change. And if it doesn't change, they're going to have to pay a very big price, and they know what that price is. So they're coming over on July 25th to see me, and hopefully we can work something out. But they have barriers that are beyond belief - barriers where they won't take our farm products, they won't take many of our things, including our cars. They charge us tariffs on cars far greater than we charge them. As you know - you know all these things.
And last year, Theresa, we lost $151 billion with the European Union. So we can't have that. We're not going to have that any longer, okay? Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER MAY: RobertQ Robert Peston, ITV. Mr. President, how would you characterize your relationship with the United Kingdom? More special than with other countries? And, by the way, on farm products, I think on the Prime Minister's deal, you wouldn't be allowed to export many of your farm products to the UK. Would that be a problem for you?
Prime Minister, the President said yesterday that he gave you advice about how to negotiate Brexit; that you didn't take that advice. I wondered what that advice was and whether you have any regrets about not taking it.
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Robert, lots of people give me advice about how to negotiate with the European Union. My job is actually getting out there and doing it, and that's exactly what I've done. And as you know, as we've been going through these negotiations, there have been one or two skeptical voices, perhaps from some of you, right before me today, about whether we would achieve what we would achieve in December. We got that joint report and that joint agreement on citizens' rights and those other issues. We got the implementation period in March.
Now we've put forward a proposal; that the two proposals the European Commission had been put forward on not acceptable to the UK. We have said no to those. And that's why we have put our own proposal on the table for the future, which, as I've said in answer to other questions, delivers on the Brexit deal but also ensures that we can have smooth trade with the European Union in the future.
And in terms of the United States and trade with the United States, there will be questions on some of the trade issues about the standards we have here for certain products and how we want to deal with those in the trade deal. That will be a matter for the negotiations.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I would say I give our relationship, in terms of grade, the highest level of special. So we start off with special. I would give our relationship with the UK - and now, especially after these two days with your Prime Minister, I would say the highest level of special. Am I allowed to go higher than that? I'm not sure. (Laughter.) But it's the highest level of special. They are very special people. It's a very special country. And as I said, I have a relationship because my mother was born in Scotland. So, very important.
As far as the advice, I did give her a suggestion. I wouldn't say advice. And I think she found it maybe too brutal, and that's - because I could see that. But I don't know if you remember what I said. But I did give her a certain amount of - I gave her a suggestion, not advice. I wouldn't want to give her advice. I'd give her a suggestion. I could fully understand why she thought it was a little bit tough. And maybe, someday, she'll do that. If they don't make the right deal, she might very well do what I suggested that she might want to do.
But it is not an easy thing. Look at the United States, how the European Union has taken advantage, systematically, of the United States, on trade. It's a disgrace. So it's not an easy negotiation.
Q Mr. President, since you attacked CNN, can I ask you a question -
PRESIDENT TRUMP: John Roberts, go ahead. Go ahead, John.
Q Can I ask you a question? (Inaudible.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. No. John Roberts, go ahead. CNN is fake news. I don't take questions - I don't take questions from CNN. CNN is fake news. I don't take questions from CNN.
John Roberts of Fox. Let's go to a real network. John, let's go.
Q Well, we're a real network, too, sir.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you.
Q Some people have suggested the relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: (Inaudible.)
Q And you have stated many, many times that you think it's important to have a better relationship with Russia. Is there any way for relations between the United States and Russia to improve -
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes.
Q - as long as Putin continues to occupy Crimea?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, I think so. I think I'd have a very good relationship with President Putin if we spend time together. And I may be wrong. You know, other people have said; it didn't work out. But I'm different than other people.
I think that we're being hurt very badly by the, I would call it, the witch hunt; I would call it the "rigged witch hunt," after watching some of the little clips. I didn't get to watch too much, because I'm here - it's a different time zone, to put it mildly. But after watching the people, the man that was testifying yesterday, I call it the "rigged witch hunt."
I think that really hurts our country and it really hurts our relationship with Russia. I think that we would have a chance to have a very good relationship with Russia and a very good chance - a very good relationship with President Putin. I would hope so.
Q But what is your thinking about improving relations with Russia while they continue to illegally occupy another country?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, that was - yes, they do. And if you're talking about Crimea primarily, yeah. But again, President Obama failed very badly with Crimea. I don't think he would have done that if I were President. He took over Crimea, and he actually took it over during the Obama administration, I think you will admit.
Q But how do you get them out?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we'll have to see what happens, you know? I'm not bad at doing things. If you look at what I've done compared to what other people have done 160 days in, there's nobody even close, I believe. So let's see what happens. But this was an Obama disaster. And I think if I were President then, he would not have taken over Crimea. During the Obama administration, he essentially took over Crimea. I don't think he would have done that with me as President, John.
Q I have a question for the Prime Minister. But if I could follow up, you have taken on many things, you say, you're left with by the Obama administration that you say that you have fixed. This is something that you inherited from the Obama administration - the occupation of Crimea. How do you fix it?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we're going to see what happens. I mean, it's a process. If I knew, I wouldn't tell you because that would put us at a disadvantage. But we'll see what happens. We'll see how it all mills out.
But I just want people to understand that Crimea was a - you know, it was another bad hand. I got handed North Korea. We're doing very well. You saw the letter yesterday. And we're doing very well.
Look, we haven't had nuclear testing, we haven't had missile launches, we haven't had rocket launches. Some sites were blown up. And we got back our hostages, our prisoners, even before I left. So a lot of good things are happening. There's some good feeling there. We'll see what happens. It's a process. It's probably a longer process than anybody would like, but I'm used to long processes too.
We haven't taken off the sanctions. The sanctions are biting. We haven't taken them off.
But when it comes to Crimea, that's something I took over, John. There's nothing much I have to say about it, other than we will look at that just like I'm looking at many other disasters that I've taken over. I've taken over a lot of bad hands. And I'm fixing them one-by-one. And I know how to fix them. Okay?
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Madam Prime Minister, President Trump says that he made suggestions to you on what to do about Brexit. Can we ask you if you would make a suggestion to him on how to handle his meeting with Putin?
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Well, I think it's very simple. We've been talking about this, in fact, today - which is, what is important in meeting with President Putin, and I've welcomed the meeting with President Putin. But what is important is that the President goes into this as he is doing, from a position of strength and also from a position of unity in NATO. I think that is very important, obviously.
We've discussed the activity of Russia in many different ways, including that use of a nerve agent here on the streets of the United Kingdom and the impact that that has had.
I've welcomed, as I said earlier, the very strong response the United States gave to that. We had a response from around the world. But I think the important thing is - and particularly following the NATO Summit, the President is going into this meeting with President Putin from that position of strength and a position of unity around that NATO table.
Jason.
Q Thank you. Jason Groves from the Daily Mail. Prime Minister, in the comments yesterday, your own MPs sort of sided with Donald Trump, really, and said this deal that you signed here at Chequers is going to be bad for trade. Why can't you convince your own MPs that it's a good idea?
And, Mr. President, can I ask you - you've said Brexit is a tough situation. What would you do now? Would you be at the point where you would walk away from the talks to show them that you mean business?
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Well first of all, on the issue of trade deals, as I've said earlier, what we're negotiating and when we come out of the negotiations, I want to see - and we will have - our ability to have independent trade policy, to set our own tariffs, to be that independent member of the WTO, to be able to negotiate trade deals around the world as we will be doing. And we're looking at, obviously, at the United States. We're looking at other areas as well, as we've said. We're looking at issues like the possibility of some trade deals around the Pacific - Pacific area, too.
We will negotiate those trade deals, but I also want to have a good trade arrangement with the European Union. This isn't an either/or. We don't just replace one with the other. Actually, the United Kingdom is looking for, and can negotiate, a situation where we can have a good trade relationship with the European Union, a great trade relationship, a good trade relationship, with the United States and around the rest of the world as well. And that is what will be good for jobs, good for people's livelihoods, good for prosperity here in the UK.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, if you remember, I was opening Turnberry the day before Brexit. And we had an unbelievably large number of reporters there because everybody was there, I guess because of Brexit. And they all showed up on the 9th hole overlooking the ocean, and I said, "What's going on?" And all they wanted to talk about was Brexit. And they asked for my opinion, and I think you will agree that I said I think Brexit will happen. And it did happen. And then we cut the ribbon.
And the reason I felt it was going to happen was because of immigration. Because I know - I think one of the reasons I got elected was because of immigration, and I felt that Brexit had the upper hand. And most people didn't agree with me. If you remember, Barack Obama said, well, that your country will have to get on the back of the line if that happened. Which I thought was a terrible thing to say, frankly.
But I said I thought it was going to happen, and it did happen. And I also think that, as far as negotiating the deal, I probably would have done what my suggestion was to the Prime Minister, but my - but she can always do that. She can do that. At some point, she can do what I suggested to her.
Q And would you walk away?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. Well, you can't walk away. Because if she walks away, that means she's - she's stuck. You can't walk away. But you can do other things. But she can do what my suggestion was. And my suggestion was, you know, respectfully submitted. She will - she will do very well. I think she's a very tough negotiator. I've been watching her over the last couple of days. She's a tough negotiator. She's a very, very smart and determined person.
I can tell you, there are a lot of people that are looking up now saying, gee, whiz - you know, she left a lot of people in her wake." She's a very smart, very tough, very capable person. And I would much rather have her as my friend than my enemy, that I can tell you.
Go ahead.
Q Jeff Mason from Reuters.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like your hat.
Q Thank you, sir. (Laughter.) Mr. President as -
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good without it, too. Good head of hair. Good solid head of hair.
Q I don't have a good solid head of hair, but thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I know exactly what you have, Jeff.
Q (Laughs). Going into your meeting -
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Appeal to the rest of us. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Come on, Jeff. Take it off. Will you show, please?
Q Oh, boy. (Laughs.) Okay.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like you better without the hat. Go ahead.
Q Here we go. (Laughter.) Going into your meeting with President Putin on Monday, sir, you mentioned both denuclearization and you mentioned Syria. Can you say exactly what your message will be to him on Syria? What would you like him to say, especially given Assad's gains in the country recently?
And also - and on denuclearization, can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and in terms of talks?
Go Back
And last year, Theresa, we lost $151 billion with the European Union. So we can't have that. We're not going to have that any longer, okay? Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER MAY: RobertQ Robert Peston, ITV. Mr. President, how would you characterize your relationship with the United Kingdom? More special than with other countries? And, by the way, on farm products, I think on the Prime Minister's deal, you wouldn't be allowed to export many of your farm products to the UK. Would that be a problem for you?
Prime Minister, the President said yesterday that he gave you advice about how to negotiate Brexit; that you didn't take that advice. I wondered what that advice was and whether you have any regrets about not taking it.
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Robert, lots of people give me advice about how to negotiate with the European Union. My job is actually getting out there and doing it, and that's exactly what I've done. And as you know, as we've been going through these negotiations, there have been one or two skeptical voices, perhaps from some of you, right before me today, about whether we would achieve what we would achieve in December. We got that joint report and that joint agreement on citizens' rights and those other issues. We got the implementation period in March.
Now we've put forward a proposal; that the two proposals the European Commission had been put forward on not acceptable to the UK. We have said no to those. And that's why we have put our own proposal on the table for the future, which, as I've said in answer to other questions, delivers on the Brexit deal but also ensures that we can have smooth trade with the European Union in the future.
And in terms of the United States and trade with the United States, there will be questions on some of the trade issues about the standards we have here for certain products and how we want to deal with those in the trade deal. That will be a matter for the negotiations.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I would say I give our relationship, in terms of grade, the highest level of special. So we start off with special. I would give our relationship with the UK - and now, especially after these two days with your Prime Minister, I would say the highest level of special. Am I allowed to go higher than that? I'm not sure. (Laughter.) But it's the highest level of special. They are very special people. It's a very special country. And as I said, I have a relationship because my mother was born in Scotland. So, very important.
As far as the advice, I did give her a suggestion. I wouldn't say advice. And I think she found it maybe too brutal, and that's - because I could see that. But I don't know if you remember what I said. But I did give her a certain amount of - I gave her a suggestion, not advice. I wouldn't want to give her advice. I'd give her a suggestion. I could fully understand why she thought it was a little bit tough. And maybe, someday, she'll do that. If they don't make the right deal, she might very well do what I suggested that she might want to do.
But it is not an easy thing. Look at the United States, how the European Union has taken advantage, systematically, of the United States, on trade. It's a disgrace. So it's not an easy negotiation.
Q Mr. President, since you attacked CNN, can I ask you a question -
PRESIDENT TRUMP: John Roberts, go ahead. Go ahead, John.
Q Can I ask you a question? (Inaudible.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. No. John Roberts, go ahead. CNN is fake news. I don't take questions - I don't take questions from CNN. CNN is fake news. I don't take questions from CNN.
John Roberts of Fox. Let's go to a real network. John, let's go.
Q Well, we're a real network, too, sir.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you.
Q Some people have suggested the relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: (Inaudible.)
Q And you have stated many, many times that you think it's important to have a better relationship with Russia. Is there any way for relations between the United States and Russia to improve -
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes.
Q - as long as Putin continues to occupy Crimea?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, I think so. I think I'd have a very good relationship with President Putin if we spend time together. And I may be wrong. You know, other people have said; it didn't work out. But I'm different than other people.
I think that we're being hurt very badly by the, I would call it, the witch hunt; I would call it the "rigged witch hunt," after watching some of the little clips. I didn't get to watch too much, because I'm here - it's a different time zone, to put it mildly. But after watching the people, the man that was testifying yesterday, I call it the "rigged witch hunt."
I think that really hurts our country and it really hurts our relationship with Russia. I think that we would have a chance to have a very good relationship with Russia and a very good chance - a very good relationship with President Putin. I would hope so.
Q But what is your thinking about improving relations with Russia while they continue to illegally occupy another country?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, that was - yes, they do. And if you're talking about Crimea primarily, yeah. But again, President Obama failed very badly with Crimea. I don't think he would have done that if I were President. He took over Crimea, and he actually took it over during the Obama administration, I think you will admit.
Q But how do you get them out?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we'll have to see what happens, you know? I'm not bad at doing things. If you look at what I've done compared to what other people have done 160 days in, there's nobody even close, I believe. So let's see what happens. But this was an Obama disaster. And I think if I were President then, he would not have taken over Crimea. During the Obama administration, he essentially took over Crimea. I don't think he would have done that with me as President, John.
Q I have a question for the Prime Minister. But if I could follow up, you have taken on many things, you say, you're left with by the Obama administration that you say that you have fixed. This is something that you inherited from the Obama administration - the occupation of Crimea. How do you fix it?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we're going to see what happens. I mean, it's a process. If I knew, I wouldn't tell you because that would put us at a disadvantage. But we'll see what happens. We'll see how it all mills out.
But I just want people to understand that Crimea was a - you know, it was another bad hand. I got handed North Korea. We're doing very well. You saw the letter yesterday. And we're doing very well.
Look, we haven't had nuclear testing, we haven't had missile launches, we haven't had rocket launches. Some sites were blown up. And we got back our hostages, our prisoners, even before I left. So a lot of good things are happening. There's some good feeling there. We'll see what happens. It's a process. It's probably a longer process than anybody would like, but I'm used to long processes too.
We haven't taken off the sanctions. The sanctions are biting. We haven't taken them off.
But when it comes to Crimea, that's something I took over, John. There's nothing much I have to say about it, other than we will look at that just like I'm looking at many other disasters that I've taken over. I've taken over a lot of bad hands. And I'm fixing them one-by-one. And I know how to fix them. Okay?
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Madam Prime Minister, President Trump says that he made suggestions to you on what to do about Brexit. Can we ask you if you would make a suggestion to him on how to handle his meeting with Putin?
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Well, I think it's very simple. We've been talking about this, in fact, today - which is, what is important in meeting with President Putin, and I've welcomed the meeting with President Putin. But what is important is that the President goes into this as he is doing, from a position of strength and also from a position of unity in NATO. I think that is very important, obviously.
We've discussed the activity of Russia in many different ways, including that use of a nerve agent here on the streets of the United Kingdom and the impact that that has had.
I've welcomed, as I said earlier, the very strong response the United States gave to that. We had a response from around the world. But I think the important thing is - and particularly following the NATO Summit, the President is going into this meeting with President Putin from that position of strength and a position of unity around that NATO table.
Jason.
Q Thank you. Jason Groves from the Daily Mail. Prime Minister, in the comments yesterday, your own MPs sort of sided with Donald Trump, really, and said this deal that you signed here at Chequers is going to be bad for trade. Why can't you convince your own MPs that it's a good idea?
And, Mr. President, can I ask you - you've said Brexit is a tough situation. What would you do now? Would you be at the point where you would walk away from the talks to show them that you mean business?
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Well first of all, on the issue of trade deals, as I've said earlier, what we're negotiating and when we come out of the negotiations, I want to see - and we will have - our ability to have independent trade policy, to set our own tariffs, to be that independent member of the WTO, to be able to negotiate trade deals around the world as we will be doing. And we're looking at, obviously, at the United States. We're looking at other areas as well, as we've said. We're looking at issues like the possibility of some trade deals around the Pacific - Pacific area, too.
We will negotiate those trade deals, but I also want to have a good trade arrangement with the European Union. This isn't an either/or. We don't just replace one with the other. Actually, the United Kingdom is looking for, and can negotiate, a situation where we can have a good trade relationship with the European Union, a great trade relationship, a good trade relationship, with the United States and around the rest of the world as well. And that is what will be good for jobs, good for people's livelihoods, good for prosperity here in the UK.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, if you remember, I was opening Turnberry the day before Brexit. And we had an unbelievably large number of reporters there because everybody was there, I guess because of Brexit. And they all showed up on the 9th hole overlooking the ocean, and I said, "What's going on?" And all they wanted to talk about was Brexit. And they asked for my opinion, and I think you will agree that I said I think Brexit will happen. And it did happen. And then we cut the ribbon.
And the reason I felt it was going to happen was because of immigration. Because I know - I think one of the reasons I got elected was because of immigration, and I felt that Brexit had the upper hand. And most people didn't agree with me. If you remember, Barack Obama said, well, that your country will have to get on the back of the line if that happened. Which I thought was a terrible thing to say, frankly.
But I said I thought it was going to happen, and it did happen. And I also think that, as far as negotiating the deal, I probably would have done what my suggestion was to the Prime Minister, but my - but she can always do that. She can do that. At some point, she can do what I suggested to her.
Q And would you walk away?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. Well, you can't walk away. Because if she walks away, that means she's - she's stuck. You can't walk away. But you can do other things. But she can do what my suggestion was. And my suggestion was, you know, respectfully submitted. She will - she will do very well. I think she's a very tough negotiator. I've been watching her over the last couple of days. She's a tough negotiator. She's a very, very smart and determined person.
I can tell you, there are a lot of people that are looking up now saying, gee, whiz - you know, she left a lot of people in her wake." She's a very smart, very tough, very capable person. And I would much rather have her as my friend than my enemy, that I can tell you.
Go ahead.
Q Jeff Mason from Reuters.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like your hat.
Q Thank you, sir. (Laughter.) Mr. President as -
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good without it, too. Good head of hair. Good solid head of hair.
Q I don't have a good solid head of hair, but thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I know exactly what you have, Jeff.
Q (Laughs). Going into your meeting -
PRIME MINISTER MAY: Appeal to the rest of us. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Come on, Jeff. Take it off. Will you show, please?
Q Oh, boy. (Laughs.) Okay.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like you better without the hat. Go ahead.
Q Here we go. (Laughter.) Going into your meeting with President Putin on Monday, sir, you mentioned both denuclearization and you mentioned Syria. Can you say exactly what your message will be to him on Syria? What would you like him to say, especially given Assad's gains in the country recently?
And also - and on denuclearization, can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and in terms of talks?
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