Donald Trump expects to find Britain ‘in turmoil’ during his visit and reiterates criticism of Nato
UK police are mobilising in numbers not seen since widespread rioting in 2011, in order to counter planned anti-Trump protests
US President Donald Trump expects to see a country in “turmoil” when he lands in the UK for a two-day visit he said would make his subsequent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki seem “easy”.
The president spoke to reporters on the south lawn of the White House on Tuesday morning, before boarding Marine One to begin his trip to Europe, which will start with a Nato summit in Brussels.
He repeated familiar criticism of Nato and spoke warmly of Boris Johnson, the British foreign secretary and Brexit leader who resigned on Monday. Trump said Johnson had been “very nice” and “very supportive”. A spokesman for Theresa May later said Trump’s remarks had been “positive”.
“It’s going to be an interesting time in the UK and certainly an interesting time with Nato,” Trump said, over the noise of the helicopter. “Nato has not treated us fairly but I think we’ll work something out. We pay far too much and they pay far too little. But we will work it out and all countries will be happy.”
Johnson was the second Eurosceptic member of May’s cabinet to resign in recent days, after the Brexit secretary, David Davis. The UK, Trump said, was in “a situation that’s been going on for a long time”.
