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
Dominic Raab is the latest Conservative leadership candidate - and supporter of a no-deal Brexit - to tell Mr Trump that is NHS is not for sale.
Meanwhile current foreign secretary - and former health secretary - Jeremy Hunt is due to meet with Mr Trump, according to The Sun.
Mr Hunt, another Tory leadership contender, was in the front row for the Trump-Theresa May press conference. Indeed, Mr Trump asked him how Michael Gove would do as Conservative leader.
Meanwhile, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has been spotted by a Reuters photographer heading to the US ambassador's residence where Mr Trump is staying.
John Rentoul has broken down the Trump-May press conference, what the two said and what they really meant.
What Theresa May said: For the past two and a half years, the president and I have had the duty and privilege of being the latest guardians of this precious and profound friendship between our countries.
What she meant: We are all “here today, gone tomorrow” politicians, and that includes you, Donald. I’m not saying I’ll be pleased if you turn out to be a one-term president.
Our man on the ground, the redoubtable Tom Batchelor, has this comment from one Johnny Schunke, 47, a Tommy Robinson supporter from London, on why he's out protesting today.
"I want to be a counterbalance to these Trump haters. He is making America great again, and the world great again too," Mr Schunke says.
"These protesters are just middle-class snowflakes, half of them don’t know what they are protesting against - they’re here for a day out.
I have been ripping up banners and putting leaflets in the bin."
Musician Brian Eno has responded to Mr Trump's comments that he has only seen "small protests" in front of a crowd of several thousand people at Parliament Square: "I'm very surprised to see you all because according to Donald Trump you don't actually exist.
"You're a figment of the fake news media and according to Donald the British are greeting him warmly on the streets of London right now, so he has invited us to work with him as the twin pillars of the new modern civilisation."
Trade union the GMB have hit out at Mr Trump's suggestion that the NHS will be part of any trade negotiations - saying that Theresa May has "insulted" NHS workers by letting the remark stand.
"Today a British PM insulted our hard working NHS workers on a scale never seen before," said GMB general secretary Rehana Azam said.
"Whilst NHS workers are tirelessly delivering healthcare, politicians are tripping over themselves to put our NHS at the mercy of the American market.
"At a time when GMB is campaigning to revoke section 75 and stop privatisation, President Trump is just waiting to get his hands on our NHS.
"There’s a very real danger Conservatives will just hand it over to him in a trade deal."
More from our reporter on the ground Tom Batchelor, who has been speaking to some of those who have gathered in Parliament Square today.
Elspeth Williams, 52, is from Catalonia in Spain.
"Inviting Trump to the UK smacks of desperation [over] what they hope to make the UK without the EU," she said.
When asked about Mr Trump's comments that a no-deal Brexit was preferable if Britain could not get better terms Ms Williams said: "He has no business commenting on our politics."
Tom has also spoken to 'Mr Stop Brexit', or Steve Bray. The 49-year-old has become a famous pro-remain campaigner around Westminster.
"Trump is a racist [and] a xenophobe," Mr Bray said, equating Mr Trump to a fascist.
"He’s not good for the world. His visit sends a message that we accept this type of person," he added.
"He is trying to endorse a no-deal Brexit, but he has no idea what that would entail... His endorsement makes it so much less likely that it will actually happen."
A smaller version of the Donald Trump baby blimp has been stabbed and deflated by a Trump supporter carrying a sharp object, according to protest organisers.
"A woman … punctured the mini Trump baby replica with a sharp object,” said a spokesman for the Trump Baby UK group.
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