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Trump and May hold joint press conference after talks – live news Donald Trump claims he turned down Corbyn request for meeting – live news
(32 minutes later)
Labour sources are confirming that Jeremy Corbyn did request a meeting with President Trump, as he revealed in the press conference. (See 2.25pm.)
Q: [To May] Do you think a deal on Brexit is possible? Would it have made a difference if you had followed Trump’s advice on what to do?
May says she still thinks it is in the best interests of the UK to leave the EU with a deal.
It will be for whoever succeeds her to take this forward.
She says Trump advised him to sue. She decided not to. She negotiated, and got a good deal.
Trump says he would have sued. “But it’s okay,” he says. He says he may have settled.
He says May has done a good job.
Q: [To Trump] What did you say in your conversation with Boris Johnson? And will you meet Michael Gove?
Trump says he knows Johnson, and likes him. And he knows Jeremy Hunt, and likes him too. But he does not know Gove, he says.
Trump endorses Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt as possible successors to Theresa May. But he says he does not know Michael Gove.
And that’s it.
I will post a verdict, summary and reaction shortly.
Trump says Mexico should stop millions of people entering the US illegally.
Mexico can do this, he says.
If Mexico does not, the US will keep increasing tariffs.
He says he does not want to believe that Mexico is run by drug cartels.
Q: [To Trump] Should everything be on the table in the talks on a UK-US trade deal?
Trump says “everything is on the table” in the talks.
But May says there will only be a deal if both sides agree.
Q: [To May] Will you take Trump’s advice and stay on?
“Nice try”, says May.
She says she is a woman of her word.
Q: Should the UK leave the EU?
Trump says he has not been following this closely.
But he thinks the UK should leave.
He claims May has brought the UK to a very good place in this regard.
Trump says May has brought the UK to a “good place” in the Brexit negotiation.
Q: Will you refuse the UK intelligence because of its involvement with Huawei?
Trump says this will not be a problem because the UK and the US will reach an agreement on what to do about Huawei.
Trump says the US and the UK will reach an agreement about a joint approach to Huawei.
They are now taking questions.
Q: [To Trump] What would you say to Jeremy Corbyn? Could you do a trade deal with him?
Trump says he does not know Corbyn. Corbyn wanted to meet with him today or tomorrow. He decided not to meet Corbyn, he says.
He says he sees Corbyn as a “negative force”.
Trump claims Corbyn requested a meeting with him. Trump turned Corbyn down, he says. He describes him as a “negative force”.
Corbyn has been critical of him, he says. He says he does not like people who are critical.
On the subject of the protests, Trump says there were “thousands of people” on the streets cheering him yesterday. And again today.
He says he did not see protesters yesterday.
He says he saw some today, but it was a very small group.
The reports of the protests have been “fake news”.
Trump claims “thousands” of people have been on the streets in London cheering him. (This is not true.)
Q: [To May] Do you agree with Trump that Sadiq Khan is a stone cold loser?
Trump replies to this.
He says Khan has been a poor mayor. He is a negative force. He should focus on dealing with the problems he faces, Trump says.
Trump says he is looking forward to agreeing a “phenomenal” trade deal with the UK.
He says he will be visiting the Churchill War Rooms later.
And he ends by paying tribute to Theresa May, saying she is a professional, and that it has been a pleasure working with her.
Trump says all members of the Nato alliance “must fulfill their obligations”.
They have no choice. They must fulfill their obligations.
Trump says Nato members who are not hitting the 2% target must increase defence spending.
President Trump is speaking now.
He starts by saying how much he appreciated the state banquet last night and the Queen’s hospitality.
Turning to D-day, he praises the way American and British soldiers worked together.
He thanks Britain for its contribution to the fight against Islamic State (although he uses the term Isis).
Pres Trump says he's honored to be back in Britain. Said last night's State Banquet in his honor was "lovely," and he calls The Queen "a fantastic person," and thanks her for the invitation to make a State Visit. pic.twitter.com/kdhdKPKSX8
May says the events in Portsmouth tomorrow will celebrate the Nato alliance.
She says the alliance between the UK and the US is just as strong as it was 75 years ago.
She ends by shaking hands with Trump.
(Someone is clearly worried by handshakegate. See 1.14pm and 1.31pm.)
May summarises what she and Trump spoke about in their talks this morning.
Cooperation had deepened on security, she says. And their economies too are more tightly bound together. Some 1 million Americans work for British companies, and 1 million Britons work for American companies, she says.
She says she and Trump agreed they wanted an ambitious trade agreement after Brexit, and from their talks today she knows they are still committed to this.
Theresa May is speaking now.
She says this week we commemorate D-day, 75 years ago.
The British and Americans have been historic partners, she says. They have shared values, and those values will endure for the next 75 years and beyond, she says. That is why she is so pleased to welcome President Trump to the UK.
She says for the last two years she and Trump have been the guardians of this friendship.
She reminds the audience who they have worked together, particularly when the US expelled Russian diplomats after the Salisbury attack and in responding to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
(From my office in the Commons, with the windows open, we can hear the anti-Trump protest getting much louder.)
From CNN’s Betsy KleinFrom CNN’s Betsy Klein
Police sirens and audible boos from the crowd protesting outside Number 10 Downing as President Trump and PM May and their spouses head to their joint press conference pic.twitter.com/RPrMiyHvgBPolice sirens and audible boos from the crowd protesting outside Number 10 Downing as President Trump and PM May and their spouses head to their joint press conference pic.twitter.com/RPrMiyHvgB
From NBC’s Bill NeelyFrom NBC’s Bill Neely
A crowd of several 100 jeers & boos as @realDonaldTrump emerges from Downing St. Talks with British PM @theresa_may, also chanting “Donald Trump Go Back Home!”A crowd of several 100 jeers & boos as @realDonaldTrump emerges from Downing St. Talks with British PM @theresa_may, also chanting “Donald Trump Go Back Home!”
President Trump and Theresa May are now walking from Number 10 to the Foreign Office, which is just the other side of Downing Street, followed by their spouses. Donald Trump and Theresa May are now walking from No 10 to the Foreign Office, which is just the other side of Downing Street, followed by their spouses.
From the Mirror’s Pippa CrerarFrom the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar
More of the Trump dynasty arriving - Ivanka (plus national security advisor John Bolton) pic.twitter.com/X8SkIJCeLbMore of the Trump dynasty arriving - Ivanka (plus national security advisor John Bolton) pic.twitter.com/X8SkIJCeLb
From Ben Riley-Smith, the Telegraph’s US editorFrom Ben Riley-Smith, the Telegraph’s US editor
Watching Fox News preamble before Trump-May presser is brilliant. We've been told UK would be "dead" if US hadn't intervened in WW2. And that George Washington was Britain's “number one nemesis”.Watching Fox News preamble before Trump-May presser is brilliant. We've been told UK would be "dead" if US hadn't intervened in WW2. And that George Washington was Britain's “number one nemesis”.
The Trump/May press conference is starting very soon.
This is from the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman.
Pompeo and Mnuchin, Mulvaney and Kellyanne Conway, Woody Johnson walk into room for joint presser. Greet the Trump family and then sit.
Just a few hundred United Against Trump protesters were in Parliament Square just before 1.30pm, where some were engaged in a confrontation with pro-Trump supporters who had come out to welcome the president and counter the demonstration against his presence in London.
Bob Marley tracks played quietly from a mobile stage in front of Westminster Abbey and political groups had stalls set up around the perimeter of the square, but it appeared as though the Parliament Square rally had been abandoned. As the Guardian made its way to the area, along Embankment, many people were walking the opposite direction, back towards Whitehall.
Political debate between pro- and anti-Trump protesters did not manage to surpass name calling, with one man’s chant of “Stop Trump” met with “Bye bye EU”, and a anti-Trump protester telling one man to “shut the fuck up”.
Pro-Trump protesters confront #TrumpProtest people in Parliament Square #TrumpUKVisit pic.twitter.com/dLxKMwZYDj
Among those welcoming Trump to London was Lorraine Chappell, a retiree from London who wore a union flag as a scarf and carried a placard saying “Welcome President Trump”. She said:
I’m protesting today to welcome Donald Trump to London because America is our greatest ally and Donald Trump is a strong leader. I’m hoping [the UK will] do trade deals with the USA post-Brexit and he’s here today on the invitation of the Queen and these people should show some respect.
On the protesters, Chappell said:
It’s disgusting, it’s absolutely disgusting. I’m sure they are happy to go and have their holidays in America, but they are not happy to support its president. If the Queen went and [the Americans] made a balloon of the Queen we would be horrified.
America helped us to win the war. At the end of the day, without them we would all be speaking German by now.
We are in the minority, we know, and that’s why we came out here today. I don’t know what the Americans must think of this country if they saw what’s going on today. You can love him [Trump] or you can hate him, but you should show him respect.
"You can love him of you can hate him, but show him respect."Lorraine Chappell, a retiree from London, who was among counter protesters in Parliament Square against the #TrumpProtest#TrumpUKVisit pic.twitter.com/nHGsPHf53B
Here is another anti-Trump protester in London explaining why she is demonstrating.
And here are some pictures of Jeremy Corbyn speaking in Whitehall.
Jeremy Corbyn is speaking at the anti-Trump demonstration in Whitehall.
He welcomes the diversity of the crowd.
Addressing complaints about his decision to boycott the state banquet last night, he says he is not refusing to meet anyone. He would be willing to talk to President Trump, he says.
But he condemns Trump for his attack on Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London. He says he is very proud to have a Muslim as mayor of London.
Corbyn restates his opposition to racism.
He says he would never accept a trade deal that ended up with the NHS being up for sale. He adds the NHS must stay free at the point of deliver.
He also criticises Trump’s record on refugees, and says refugees should never be treated as enemies. They are fellow human beings, he says.
From there, he moves on to war and reminds the audience that he opposed the Iraq war in 2003. (At this point he is moving away from Trump, to an extent – Trump also says the Iraq war was a mistake.)
Corbyn ends by saying that a few weeks ago the Commons voted for a motion saying the UK was facing a climate emergency.
And he says “protest and activism” eventually lead to change.
More from the venue for the May-Trump press conference.
The view from Durbar Court at the Foreign Office ahead of the Trump/May press conference #TrumpVisitUK pic.twitter.com/hocIo8EDRQ
More on handshakegate. (See 1.14pm.) To me, the explanation that you do not shake hands with someone you shook hands with at a meeting an hour or so earlier seems perfectly sound. That’s the No 10 explanation. But the White House pool has offered a different take. The pool reporter says:
To clarify on handshakes, PM May shook hands with FLOTUS and greeted POTUS but did not shake hands with him as FLOTUS was reaching across to shake Philip May’s hand.
For anyone who has never watched West Wing, POTUS stands for president of the United States and FLOTUS for first lady of the United States.
There has been some interest on social media in the fact that, when Trump arrived at Downing Street, he did not shake Theresa May’s hand – even though he did shake hands with her husband.
But the encounter took place shortly after May and Trump attended a business breakfast together at St James’s Palace (see 11.10am), where they did shake hands. “One only shakes another’s hand once in a day,” said a No 10 source, quite reasonably.
President Trump will be visiting the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall later with Theresa May, the White House pool is reporting. Melania Trump and Philip May will attend too.
But Boris Johnson will not be going. At one stage, when the state visit was being planned, there was talk of Johnson giving Trump a tour because Johnson has written a biography of Churchill and is seen as something of an expert. But that might have to wait for another day ...
According to the Daily Mirror, Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary and favourite in the contest to succeed Theresa May, has had a “friendly” 20-minute conversation with President Trump. But Johnson turned down an invitation to meet Trump tonight because he is due to attend a private hustings organised by One Nation Tories in the Commons, the Mirror reports.
BREAKING Boris Johnson turns down Donald Trump's personal offer of a face-to-face meetinghttps://t.co/ADQDl1pqX0 pic.twitter.com/YXJajdBR3T