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Trump prepared to apologise for UK far-right video retweets Donald Trump prepared to apologise for UK far-right video retweets
(about 2 hours later)
US president tells ITV he did not know of Britain First and only wanted to oppose Islamic terrorUS president tells ITV he did not know of Britain First and only wanted to oppose Islamic terror
Graham Ruddick, Graham Ruddick and
Peter Walker and agencies Peter Walker
Fri 26 Jan 2018 08.18 GMT Fri 26 Jan 2018 10.40 GMT
First published on Fri 26 Jan 2018 07.03 GMTFirst published on Fri 26 Jan 2018 07.03 GMT
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Donald Trump has said he is prepared to apologise for retweeting inflammatory videos by the far-right group Britain First. Donald Trump has said he is prepared to apologise for retweeting inflammatory videos by the far-right group Britain First, as he seeks to prepare the ground for a visit to the UK this year.
In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Trump said he had known nothing about Britain First when he shared the posts by the group’s deputy leader, Jayda Fransen. In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the US president said he had known nothing about Britain First when he shared the posts by the group’s deputy leader, Jayda Fransen, late last year, prompting a rebuke from Theresa May.
“If you are telling me they’re horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologise if you’d like me to do that,” he told the presenter Piers Morgan. “If you are telling me they’re horrible people – horrible, racist people – I would certainly apologise if you’d like me to do that,” he told the presenter, Piers Morgan.
Britain First is an Islamophobic group​ run by convicted racists.​ It was founded in 2011 by former members of the far-right British National Party (BNP) and loyalist extremists in Northern Ireland. Britain First is an Islamophobic group​ run by convicted racists.​ It was founded in 2011 by former members of the far-right British National Party (BNP) and loyalist extremists in Northern Ireland. 
It organises mosque invasions where followers, often dressed in paramilitary uniforms, raid multicultural areas in the UK. It organises mosque invasions where followers, often dressed in paramilitary uniforms, raid multicultural areas in the UK. 
The group has an influential presence on Facebook and actively uses social media to publicise anti-Islamic material. Its leader, Paul Golding, a former BNP councillor, and his deputy Jayda Fransen have been arrested several times.​The group has an influential presence on Facebook and actively uses social media to publicise anti-Islamic material. Its leader, Paul Golding, a former BNP councillor, and his deputy Jayda Fransen have been arrested several times.​
Fransen was found guilty in November 2016 of religiously aggravated harassment after she hurled abuse at a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.​ A month later Golding was ​jailed for eight weeks for breaching a court order banning him from entering a mosque.Fransen was found guilty in November 2016 of religiously aggravated harassment after she hurled abuse at a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.​ A month later Golding was ​jailed for eight weeks for breaching a court order banning him from entering a mosque.
Rightwing terrorist Thomas Mair shouted “Britain first” before killing the MP Jo Cox during the EU referendum campaign in 2016. Rightwing terrorist Thomas Mair shouted “Britain first” before killing the MP Jo Cox during the EU referendum campaign in 2016. 
He said he retweeted the posts because of his opposition to Islamic terrorism. Trump said he retweeted the posts because of his opposition to Islamist terrorism. The tweets featured videos including one supposedly showing a Muslim immigrant hitting a Dutch boy on crutches. Dutch authorities later said the perpetrator was born and raised in the Netherlands.
“I know nothing about them and I know nothing about them today other than I read a little bit,” he said. “Perhaps it was a big story in Britain, perhaps it was a big story in the UK, but in the United States it wasn’t a big story. Of Britain First, which has an estimated 1,000 followers, Trump said: “I know nothing about them, and I know nothing about them today, other than I read a little bit.”
“Perhaps it was a big story in Britain, perhaps it was a big story in the UK, but in the United States it wasn’t a big story.
“They had a couple of depictions of radical Islamic terror. It was done because I am a big believer in fighting radical Islamic terror. This was a depiction of radical Islamic terror.”“They had a couple of depictions of radical Islamic terror. It was done because I am a big believer in fighting radical Islamic terror. This was a depiction of radical Islamic terror.”
Morgan interviewed Trump on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the US president is scheduled to speak on Friday. Trump’s offer of an apology came after Downing Street said plans were being made for him to visit the UK in the second half of this year, a trip previously postponed because of the threat of mass protests.
The full interview will air on Sunday at 10pm on ITV. Clips were shown on Friday’s edition of Good Morning Britain. In the interview Trump said he was a tremendous supporter of the UK and that Theresa May was doing a “very good job”. May invited Trump for a full state visit when she went to Washington shortly after his inauguration last year, but no date has been set amid reports Trump is wary of receiving a hostile reception.
His comments followed a 15-minute meeting with the prime minister in Davos, at which Trump promised the US would always “be there” for Britain, assured May “we love your country” and said they “like each other a lot”. Last month he also called off a trip to open the US embassy in London, again reportedly because of concern about protests.
May invited Trump for a state visit within days of his being sworn in as president, but Downing Street had appeared to want to postpone the invitation after Trump responded angrily to May’s criticism of him over the Britain First videos. The newly planned visit, which was agreed by Trump and May at the end of talks on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, is expected to be a working visit, though there are reports he could meet the Queen.
Earlier this month, Trump called off a planned trip to London in February to open the new US embassy. He claimed he had cancelled the visit because of his displeasure at Barack Obama for selling the old embassy in Grosvenor Square for “peanuts” and building a replacement “in an off location” in Nine Elms, south London. “Bad deal,” he tweeted. The planned move began when George W Bush was president. Morgan interviewed Trump at the Swiss resort, where the US president is scheduled to speak on Friday.
Trump, having put May at the top of the list for his bilateral talks in Davos, rejected the idea that relations between Washington and London had soured. The full interview will air on Sunday at 10pm on ITV. Clips were shown on Friday’s edition of Good Morning Britain. In the interview Trump said he was a tremendous supporter of the UK and that May was doing a “very good job”.
Sitting next to the prime minister, Trump said reports of tension in the US-UK relationship were “a false rumour”. During the 40-minute meeting with Morgan, Trump promised the US would always “be there” for Britain, assured May “we love your country”, and said the two leaders “like each other a lot”.
“We’re on the same wavelength in, I think, every respect,” he said. It is understood May did not raise the issue of Trump’s Britain First retweets. Trump, having put May at the top of the list for his bilateral talks in Davos, rejected the idea that Washington-London relations had soured.
After the meeting, Trump tweeted that the talks had been “great”. Sitting next to the prime minister, Trump said reports of tension were “a false rumour”. He added: “We’re on the same wavelength in, I think, every respect,” he said. It is understood May did not raise the issue of Trump’s Britain First retweets. After the meeting, Trump tweeted that the talks had been “great”.
A senior UK government source has said Trump is expected to visit the UK in the second half of this year, after the pair had met again at the Nato summit in Brussels in July. Detailed planning that must now get under way for Trump’s visit will include calculating the scale of the security operation. There has been speculation that his arrival will trigger the biggest protests since the anti-Iraq war demonstration in 2003.
A Downing Street source said both the UK and US were planning a working visit. This pushes the prospect of a state visit further into the future, and raises the possibility it might never happen. Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror and News of the World, got to know Trump in 2008 when he won Celebrity Apprentice in the US, which was hosted by the billionaire. Morgan’s Twitter account is one of just 45 the president follows.
Either way, the detailed planning that must now get under way will include calculating the scale of the security operation. There has been speculation that Trump’s visit will lead to the biggest protests since the anti-Iraq war demonstration in 2003. Morgan interviewed Trump for Good Morning Britain in May 2016 during the US election campaign and has previously said he has interviewed him more than 30 times through his various on-screen roles. In the 2016 interview Trump accused Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, of being rude and ignorant. The pair have clashed online over terrorism in the capital.
Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror and News of the World, got to know Trump in 2008 when he won Celebrity Apprentice in the US, which was fronted by the billionaire. Morgan’s Twitter account is one of just 45 that the president follows.
Morgan interviewed Trump for Good Morning Britain in May 2016 during the US election campaign and has previously said he has interviewed him more than 30 times over the years through his various on-screen roles. In the 2016 interview Trump accused Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, of being rude and ignorant. The pair have clashed online over terrorism in the capital.
Morgan has been a vocal supporter of Trump on social media and through his column for Mail Online.
Press Association contributed to this report
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