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
There have been scuffles between police and protesters with at least one man arrested, reports Tom Batchelor.
Speaking to The Independent, one police officer described the scene as "chaos". The atmosphere on the section of Whitehall closest to Trafalgar Square has become more aggressive.
Donald Trump has spoken to Boris Johnson and is set to meet with Tory leadership hopeful Michael Gove, in a sign that he is already looking ahead to potential new prime ministers.
The US president called Mr Johnson and offered a one-to-one meeting, but the former foreign secretary declined because he was due to attend a leadership hustings on Tuesday night.
The men had a "friendly and productive" 20-minute call, it is understood.
Additional reporting by PA
Donald Trump and Theresa May are due to hold their press conference any minute.
The government should not be "offering up our precious, wonderful National Health Service to private American companies" in a bid to settle a post-Brexit trade deal, Jeremy Corbyn has told anti-Trump protesters.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, previously said "the NHS is not for sale" after US ambassador Woody Johnson hinted Washington would want healthcare on the table in trade talks.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses a demonstration against the state visit of Donald Trump (Tolga Akmen/AFP)
A number of senior figures including Mike Pompeo have just left 10 Downing Street on their way to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the press conference. Theresa May and Mr Trump are yet to emerge.
Here's a view you don't get to see very often.
Donald Trump and Theresa May inside Number 10 (Henry Nicholls/PA)
A short while ago a scuffle has broken out between police and protesters as pro-Trump and anti-fascist demonstrators came face to face on Whitehall, writes Tom Batchelor.
A much larger police presence is now in place and the atmosphere – at least on the section of road closest to Trafalgar Square – has turned more aggressive.
Jeremy Corbyn has just finished speaking on Whitehall. The march is now moving along the Embankment in the direction of Parliament Square.
"Donald Trump with little hands, we don’t want your Muslim ban," is being chanted from the front of the procession.
Police and protesters in Whitehall (Tom Batchelor/The Independent)
Chants of "USA!" came from a group of about 20 pro-Trump protesters in Parliament Square as the main procession arrived, writes Tom Batchelor.
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