Trump UK visit: Farage meets president as Tory leader hopefuls reject Trump’s demand NHS is opened to US firms
'Comprehensive' trade deal promised as US leader suggests American involvement in healthcare a possibility
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has insisted the NHS would be “on the table” in any post-Brexit trade talks. “When you’re dealing with trade everything is on the table. So NHS or anything else, a lot more than that,” the US president said at a press conference with Theresa May.
He earlier promised, not for the first time, a “very substantial” post-Brexit trade deal with the UK as he met Ms May on the second day of his state visit, following a lavish royal banquet at Buckingham Palace. The leaders also discussed the role of Huawei in the UK’s 5G network.
Meanwhile, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said he had a “good meeting” with the president at the US ambassador’s residence and that Mr Trump “really believes in Brexit”.
Mr Farage was photographed being driven into Winfield House on Tuesday afternoon.
He later tweeted: “Good meeting with President Trump - he really believes in Brexit and is loving his trip to London.”
Mr Farage has campaigned for years to take Britain out of the European Union and is one of Trump’s most prominent British supporters. The president has called him a friend.
Mr Farage’s newly founded Brexit Party was the big winner in last month’s European Parliament elections in Britain, scooping up support from voters angry that the UK has not left the EU.
He has criticised the prime minister's divorce deal with the bloc and said Britain should leave the EU without an agreement.
Mr Trump praised Ms May’s handling of Brexit on Tuesday, saying she had gotten a good deal.
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Mr Trump has been working with Ms May to ensure their Nato partners boost defence spending, he said - a major bugbear of his.
Theresa May and Donald Trump kick off their press conference (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
"You are a tremendous professional and a person who loves your country dearly," Mr Trump tells Ms May.
It has been an honour to work together, he added.
Mr Trump is asked about Jeremy Corbyn's speech at the protest march. But he appears to misunderstand and answer the reporter's question to Ms May - whether she agreed with the president that Sadiq Khan was a "stone cold loser".
"He's done a poor job. He hurts the people of this great country," Mr Trump said of Mr Khan.
Getting back to Mr Corbyn, Mr Trump said: "I don't know him. He wanted to meet today or tomorrow and I decided that I would not do that. I think that he is from where I come from, something of a negative force. I don't like critics as much as I like and respect people who get things done."
"It was a very very small group of people," Mr Trump said of the protests against his visit.
Ms May is talking up the benefits - safety, jobs - of the relationship with the US.
Mr Trump adds that it is a "big, important alliance".
Mr Trump is asked whether the UK should leave the EU without a deal.
"I don't like to take positions on things ... I understand the issue very well, I really predicted what was going to happen.
"I would think that it [Brexit] will happen and it probably should happen. This is a great country.
"I believe the prime minister's brought it to a good place where something will happen in the not-too-distant future."
Mr Trump claimed he had predicted the Brexit referendum result the day before it happened, which is not true.
Mr Trump is asked whether he will restrict intelligence sharing if the UK uses Huawei for its 5G network.
He said: "We will be able to work out any differences. I don't see any limitations.
"We'll have no problem with that."
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