Donald Trump warns UK of poor relationship with David Cameron
Mr Trump also labelled Sadiq Khan 'very rude'
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Your support makes all the difference.David Cameron still believes Donald Trump's comments on immigration and Muslims are "divisive, stupid and wrong", following the US presidential hopeful's warning that he does not expect to have a good relationship with the British Prime Minister.,
In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Mr Trump, who is now almost certain to become the Republican candidate for the White House, dismissed the comments but said it “looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship”.
“I hope to have a good relationship with him but it sounds like he’s not willing to address the problem either,” he said.
Mr Cameron made the criticism in December, at a time when Mr Trump was the front-runner in the Republican presidential race, but not the presumptive candidate.
A Downing Street spokesman today said: "The Prime Minister has made his views on Donald Trump's comments very clear. He disagrees with them, and I haven't got anything further to add.
"He continues to believe that preventing Muslims from entering the US is divisive, stupid and wrong."
The Number 10 spokesman said that Mr Cameron was "committed to maintaining the special relationship" whoever wins the presidential election.
No proposal had been made for a phone call between the PM and Mr Trump, but Downing Street would be willing to consider it, the spokesman added.
Earlier this month a spokesman for Mr Trump reignited the row with a call for Mr Cameron to withdraw the comments. The Prime Minister refused, but did admit Mr Trump deserved “respect” for becoming his party’s presumptive nominee.
Addressing the criticisms directly in the interview, Mr Trump said: “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.”
Downing Street is not standing down, however. A spokesman reiterated Mr Cameron's position on Monday morning, saying: "The Prime Minister has made his views on Donald Trump's comments very clear. He disagrees with them, and I haven't got anything further to add.
"He continues to believe that preventing Muslims from entering the US is divisive, stupid and wrong."
Speaking to ITV, Mr Trump also warned Sadiq Khan that he would “remember” the London Mayor’s recent criticisms of him.
Mr Khan last week declined Mr Trump’s offer of an exception from the proposed ban on Muslims entering America, calling the US property tycoon’s views on Islam “ignorant”.
Mr Trump said he had been offended by the remarks.
“I don’t care about him, it doesn’t make any difference to me, let’s see how he does, let’s see if he’s a good man,” he said.
“Tell him I will remember those statements,” he added. “They’re very nasty statements.”
Mr Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, won praise last week by rejecting Mr Trump’s offer. “This isn’t just about me,” he said. “It’s about my friends, my family and everyone who comes from a background similar to mine, anywhere in the world.”
In his interview with ITV’s Piers Morgan, broadcast in full this morning, Mr Trump also reiterated his view that Britain would be better off outside the EU. He said that migration from Europe had been “a disaster” and called the EU “very bureaucratic and very difficult”.
While declining to go into details about how an US-UK trade deal would work, he dismissed President Barack Obama’s warning that Britain would be “at the back of the queue” if it left the EU.
“Britain’s been a great ally,” he said. “With me, they’ll always be treated fantastically.”
The statement, which was first reported yesterday, won the backing of UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who said that he would back Mr Trump over Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race. While admitting “reservations” about Mr Trump, he called his comments on the EU “measured” and “diplomatic” and said he believed he would win the Presidency.
Donald Trump is expected to be confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee at the party's National Convention in Cleveland which begins on July 18th.
His likely contender in the Presidential race will be former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who has not yet reahed the 2,393 delegate threshold she requires to clinch the Democratic nomination.
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