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.
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt "would do a very good job" as prime minister, Mr Trump says.
BREAKING
Donald Trump has said the NHS should be "on the table" in any post-Brexit trade deal with the US.
That press conference was at times rather awkward, with a number of misunderstandings and questions missed. But it was much shorter than some Mr Trump has conducted and his answers were also fairly brief.
On Brexit, even though he began to say he ought not to comment on the UK's domestic affairs, Mr Trump eventually said he believed Theresa May had done a good job negotiating her deal.
It was "teed up" for approval, he said, while Ms May might not receive the credit she deserved for landing it.
This was the overall scene at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. That really is a lot of flags.
Donald Trump and Theresa May hold a press conference at the Foreign Office in Whitehall (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
A couple of bits worth recapping:
Mr Trump said Jeremy Corbyn offered to meet him and he declined
The US will not restrict intelligence-sharing over the Huawei/5G dispute
You can re-live it all in this handy live-stream the president has tweeted while I was writing this.
Hundreds more protesters are streaming into Parliament Square, writes Tom Batchelor.
There is more of a carnival atmosphere now, despite the small counter-demonstration. Shouts of "Donald Trump, Theresa May, immigrants are here to stay" can be heard.
Three pro-Trumpers, including a right-wing YouTube personality, are shouting at anti-Trump demonstrators from the centre of Parliament Square.
Police have surrounded them, as have dozens of anti-Trump protesters. They are exchanging shouts of "go home" and "we love Trump".
Protesters in Parliament Square (Tom Batchelor/The Independent)
Before the press conference, Ivanka Trump and John Bolton were booed from outside Downing Street as they emerged to go to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
There has been plenty of reaction to the fact that Mr Trump explained his upcoming meeting with Conservative leadership candidate Michael Gove by saying that "I don't know Michael".
Mr Gove actually interviewed Mr Trump in person back in January 2017.
The health secretary Matt Hancock has been quick to say that the NHS will not be on the table during US-UK trade deal talks - "not on my watch".
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