Trump Takes on British Politicians
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been agitating U.S. allies abroad for months now with his calls for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., promises to re-assess longtime strategic partnerships, and seeming embrace of authoritarian rulers like Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He has promised to become “more presidential” as the November election nears, but there wasn’t much evidence that he is ready to dial back his rhetoric yet in an interview he gave to talk show host Piers Morgan that aired on the ITV program Good Morning Britain on Monday.
Trump continued to voice his support for the movement in the United Kingdom to extricate the country from the European Union -- a position that puts Trump directly at odds with the government of Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as U.S. President Barack Obama.
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“A lot of the migration and a lot of the acceptance of people is because of the European Union, I think that’s been a disaster,” he said. “I think if I was from Britain I would want to go back to a different system. I’ve dealt with the European Union and it’s very bureaucratic. Personally, in terms of Britain, I would say: What do you need it for?”
When Obama visited the U.K. last month, he spoke in support of Britain remaining in the EU and said that while the U.S. would always maintain a strong relationship with the U.K., a departure from the EU would create complications around international trade agreements. The U.S. would certainly enter into agreements with the U.K. but would first focus on completing a huge package of trade agreements with its erstwhile EU partners, putting the U.K., in Obama’s words, at the “back of the queue.”
No so under a Trump administration, the billionaire promised. “Britain’s been a great ally. They’ve been such a great ally they’ve gone into things they shouldn’t have gone into, for example going into Iraq. With me, they’ll always be treated fantastically,” he promised. “I’m not going to say front of the queue but it wouldn’t make any difference to me whether they were in the EU or not. You would certainly not be back of the queue, that I can tell you.”
Cameron’s government is desperately trying to convince British voters to remain in the EU when they go to the polls on June 23 for a referendum on the question.
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Not only did Trump not offer Cameron any backup on the EU question, he suggested that Cameron’s characterization of his proposed Muslim ban as “stupid, divisive, and wrong” back in September augured poorly for their working relationship should he win the White House.
“It looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship,” he said. “I hope to have a good relationship with him, but it sounds like he’s not willing to address the problem either.”
He added, “Number one, I’m not stupid, I can tell you that right now. Just the opposite. I don’t think I’m a divisive person. I’m a unifier, unlike our president now.”
Cameron’s office on Monday said that the Prime Minister continues to stand by his criticism of Trump’s plan to keep Muslims out of the U.S.
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Trump also had strong words for London’s recently elected mayor, Sadiq Khan. After Khan, a Muslim, was elected, Trump said that he would make an exception from the ban if the mayor wanted to travel to the U.S.
"I think Donald Trump has ignorant views about Islam,” Khan said at the time. “It's not just about me. I don't want to be the exception to be allowed to go to America," Khan replied. Referring to the election, he added, “I hope Donald Trump looks to the lessons that London sent last Thursday and recognizes that it's possible to be Western and Muslim.”
Trump replied angrily to Khan in his interview with Morgan, among other things seeming to threaten future retaliation and suggesting that they should each take an IQ test and compare scores.
“He doesn't know me, never met me, doesn't know what I am all about,” he said. “I think they are very rude statements. Frankly, tell him I will remember those statements. They are very nasty statements," Trump said. "It is ignorant for him to say that."
Trump’s appearance on British morning television was not universally enjoyed. The Mirror newspaper collected social media reactions to the interview, including pleas like, “Please don’t let this vile man become POTUS” and complaints like, “Trump being interviewed by Piers Morgan. Enough to put you off your breakfast.”
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