Trump says he feels sorry for Theresa May - but his friends are about to take over Britain

Perhaps the president genuinely does feel bad for her, but surely he's delighted with the likely alternative?

Theresa May is the only British prime minister Donald Trump has had any kind of relationship with – perhaps even that fabled “special relationship” we were led to believe should exist between Britain and the US.

The unappealing pair have had their ups, downs and more downs over the last two years.

During his Chequers visit, Trump may have grinned at the podium alongside May, but he was quick to betray their “indispensable relationship”.

Wielding a Brexit-shaped knife, he stabbed her in the back, telling reporters: “I would have done it much differently”.

But our dancing, coughing, departing PM had her attack ready, telling the press what Trump’s Brexit advice was (it was that Britain should sue the EU...thanks for the input, mate...)

So as she cried her way out of office, it was inevitable the human tweet machine that is Donald Trump would respond.

The US president said he “feels badly” for her, as reporters inundated him with questions before his flight to Japan.

“I feel badly for Theresa – I like her very much. She’s a good woman, she worked very hard, she’s very strong. She decided to do something that some people were surprised at, some people weren’t. It’s for the good of her country.”

Trump added that he’ll be seeing Theresa May in two weeks, referring to his highly anticipated UK visit on 3 June (highly anticipated by us in America who get to be Trump-free for a few blissful days).

Donald Trump may say he feels sorry for Theresa May – and perhaps he genuinely does – but surely he’ll be delighted with the likely alternative.

The current frontrunner in the Tory leadership race is fellow New York native Boris Johnson. With £800,000 in the campaign bank over the last year alone, the pro-Brexit anti-deal MP is currently most likely to be Britain’s next Prime Minister.

During that same Chequers visit last year, President Trump said: “I have a lot of respect for Boris. He obviously likes me, and says very good things about me”.

Trump also said Boris is a “great representative” for Britain and “would be a great prime minister”.

When BoJo quit May’s cabinet, Trump even went so far as to call him his “friend” and reiterate how much he likes him – and no wonder: the pair have a lot in common.

They both seem to think they know how to solve Brexit, without either of them laying out any kind of clear plan. They have both made racist comments about Muslims (who could forget LetterboxGate?). And between them they’ve made enough offensive jibes about Africa to fill a book.

But Donald Trump has even more reason to rejoice. With Nigel Farage at the helm of the relatively newly formed Brexit Party, they are feeding off of May’s failures – so there’s plenty for them to gorge on.

The milkshake-wearing Brexiteer was the first British politician to visit president-elect Donald Trump in November 2016, and received endorsement from the soon-to-be president to be the next ambassador to the US.

With Theresa May out of the picture, it looks like we’re about to be left with three milkshake-covered swamp monsters, each clamouring for the crown of most right-wing and self-interested. And each determined to drag us deeper into their isolationist, anti-immigrant view of the future. How will we drain that swamp without even the moderates left around to challenge them?