Trump says Boris Johnson's Brexit plan means the US 'can't make a trade deal with the UK'
- Boris Johnson's Brexit plan would prevent the UK and the US striking a free trade agreement, Donald Trump said.
- 'To be honest with you, this deal, under certain aspects of the deal, you can't do it. You can't trade. We can't make a trade deal with the UK,' the US President told Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.
- Prime Minister Johnson has repeatedly talked up the prospect of a free trade agreement with the US after the UK leaves the EU.
- The US president also said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would be "so bad for your country" and "take you into such bad places."
Boris Johnson's Brexit plan would prevent the United Kingdom and United States from striking a trade deal, Donald Trump has said, in an intervention which threatens to damage the prime minister's nascent election campaign.
Speaking to Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on LBC Radio on Thursday evening, the US president said: "To be honest with you, this deal, under certain aspects of the deal, you can't do it. You can't trade.
"We can't make a trade deal with the UK because I think we can do many times the numbers that we're doing right now and certainly much bigger numbers than you are doing under the European Union."
Trump added that the terms of the deal struck between the UK and EU meant that "under certain ways, we're precluded," adding that it was "completely ridiculous."
Under the terms of Johnson's agreement with the EU, the UK will leave the customs union, meaning it will be free to strike its own trade deal with countries around the world once it has left the bloc.
However, the UK government has said the country will maintain high standards in areas like food hygiene and animal welfare after Brexit, which has been interpreted as a potential impediment to a comprehensive deal with the US.
The prime minister has consistently talked up the prospect of a post-Brexit trade deal with the US as one of the biggest prizes of leaving the EU.
A Downing Street spokesman said afterwards: "'Under this new deal the whole of the UK will leave the EU Customs Union, which means we can strike our own free trade deals around the world from which every part of the UK will benefit."
Trump urges Johnson and Farage to strike an electoral pact
In his interview with Farage, Trump praised Johnson as a "fantastic man" and described their "great friendship."
Trump also urged the prime minister to form an electoral pact with Farage, whose Brexit Party is expected to run in hundreds of seats and threatens to take votes away from Conservative candidates at the December 12 general election.
The US president also said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would be "so bad for your country" and "take you into such bad places."
But the intervention will be a welcome one for Corbyn, who launched his general election campaign yesterday.
The Labour leader plans to draw attention to Johnson's close relationship with Trump, and claim that the prime minister's Brexit plan would open the National Health Service to predatory US drug companies.
Corbyn responded on Twitter by claiming that "Donald Trump is trying to interfere in Britain's election to get his friend Boris Johnson elected."