Donald Trump warns May's Brexit deal favours EU and may hinder UK trade with US

'Right now if you look at the deal, they may not be able to trade with us', US president warns

Donald Trump has warned that Theresa May‘s proposed Brexit deal may make trade with the US more difficult.

The US president said the deal sounded like it would be good for the European Union (EU), before expressing concern about where the it left trade between the UK and his country.

“I think we have to take a look seriously whether or not the UK is allowed to trade. Because right now if you look at the deal, they may not be able to trade with us,” he told reporters outside the White House. “And that wouldn’t be a good thing. I don’t think they meant that.”

He added that he hoped Ms May would be able to address the problem, but he did not specify which provision of the deal he was concerned about.

In response to Mr Trump’s comments, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The political declaration we have agreed with the EU is very clear we will have an independent trade policy so that the UK can sign trade deals with countries around the world – including with the US.

“We have already been laying the groundwork for an ambitious agreement with the US through our joint working groups, which have met five times so far. The US Trade Representative also issued a call for views from the public on a future UK-US free trade agreement earlier this month.”

Under the agreement struck by Ms May, the UK would continue to trade with the US under EU rules until at least the end of the transition period in December 2020.

The US is Britain’s largest single export market – in 2016 trade with the country was worth nearly £100bn, according to the Office for National Satistics.

Mr Trump spoke out after the prime minister confirmed that MPs will vote on the deal on 11 December after five days of debate. The timing gives Ms May a fortnight to avert what threatens to be a humiliating defeat at the hands of scores of Conservative rebels.

Ms May received a largely hostile reception as she told the House of Commons her deal “delivers for the British people” and warned that rejecting it would put the UK on the path to division and uncertainty.

MPs, many from her own party, loudly barracked her as she insisted that no better deal was available than the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on future relations endorsed by EU leaders in Brussels over the weekend.

Former minister Mark Francois branded her deal a “surrender” and said opposition from Eurosceptic Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party meant it was already “dead as a dodo”.

Ex-defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon described the deal as “a huge gamble” which involved the UK paying a £39 billion divorce bill and giving up its votes and veto without any firm commitment on future trade relations.

But Ms May said: “I believe our national interest is clear. The British people want us to get on with a deal that honours the referendum and allows us to come together again as a country, whichever way we voted.

“This is that deal. A deal that delivers for the British people.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Commons would have “very little choice” but to reject Mrs May’s “botched” deal, which he described as “bad for this country”.

“The truth is, under this Government we have never got off square one,” he said, adding that it was “still a bad deal for the country and all yesterday did was mark the end of this Government’s failed and miserable negotiations.”

With 90 or more Conservative MPs indicating they could rebel in the “meaningful vote”, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay admitted Ms May faces a “challenging” division.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker also warned that there would be no more negotiation if MPs vote down the agreement, telling the BBC: “This is the best deal for Britain ... and this is the only deal possible, so if the House says no, we would have no deal.”