Trump heaps praise on May’s handling of Brexit

Our live coverage of day two has ended. Scroll through the posts below to read more or head here for coverage of the final day of Trump’s UK state visit.

The place setting of President Trump is pictured on the top table ahead of a dinner with Prince Charles at Winfield House in London on June 4, 2019.

A dinner, planned by first lady Melania Trump, is underway at Winfield House right now.

Here are some details about the seating arrangements:

Here are a few of the notable attendees:

Watch for more:

Ever wonder what it’s like to eat like royalty? Here’s what’s on the menu tonight as President Trump and first lady Melania Trump host Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at Winfield House:

To drink, guests can choose from Iron Horse Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, or Brut Reserve.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose ahead of a dinner at Winfield House for Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during their state visit on June 4, 2019 in London, England.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are hosting a dinner Tuesday night for Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

The Trumps welcomed Charles and Camilla at the US ambassador’s residence in Winfield House in Central London.

CNN’s Kate Bennett reported that the first lady has been working on all the details for the dinner for the past several weeks, including the menu, guest list, seating charts and flowers.

“She was very actively involved planning it back home at the White House. But working in concert with the people here at Winfield house in London as they host this dinner,” Bennett noted. “This is a reciprocal dinner — the night after the state banquet at Buckingham Palace. This is something the Obamas did as well. They hosted the Queen and Prince Philip and tonight we’ll see Prince Charles and Camilla in the place of the Queen.”

Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party, took to Twitter Tuesday following his meeting with President Trump at the US ambassador’s residence in Winfield House in central London.

Here’s what he said about the meeting:

Protesters holding placards stand in the rain at Parliament Square as President Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit 10 Downing street for a meeting on June 4, 2019 in London.

Britons’ passion to show their dislike of the America President somewhat fizzled today — at least compared to the hundreds of thousands of protesters that thronged through Central London at last year’s anti-Trump protest.

The rainy forecast didn’t lend any favors to the organizers of the midweek protest. (For comparison, 2018’s demonstration had clear skies and took place on a Friday.)

Here’s what both protests had in common: the 20-foot “Trump Baby” blimp took the skies. UK opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn made a speech, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Trump were trading barbs.

But that’s not to say there wasn’t any spirit on display on Tuesday. “Our NHS is NOT on the table,” read one sign, in reference to Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, indicating that Britain’s publicly funded health system could feature in future trade negotiations with the UK.

Some protesters used the gathering in Trafalgar Square, and its ensuing rain-filled march to outside Parliament, as an opportunity to air their opposition to Trump’s stance on immigration, women’s rights and climate change.

“Someone in a position of power should not be denying science, they shouldn’t be denying something that is fundamentally undeniable,” said 15-year-old student Izzy Warren, who is part of a coalition of young climate change activists responsible for a series of strikes across the country over the issue.

Behind her, a crowd of thousands chanted: “‘Say it loud say it clear Donald Trump is not welcome here.”

Nigel Farage is driven into the US ambassador's residence in London

Barely an hour after Donald Trump’s joint press conference with Theresa May ended, all eyes shifted to the spectacle of Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, being driven into Winfield House, the residence of the US ambassador to London, where Trump is staying.

In the opulent setting of the Foreign Office, Trump was effusive in his praise for the departing May. But the fact that, in the next breath, he was meeting her nemesis, served to underscore the mess the UK’s political system is in.

May announced her intention to stand down last month, as her governing Conservative party took a drubbing in the European elections. The winner of that election was none other than Farage, who has capitalized on the government’s failure to deliver on the Brexit result.

As Trump stood next to May, he heaped praise on her approach to the Brexit negotiations, said that she was leaving the country in a very good place and even suggested that she might be a better negotiator than the President himself. “I think you deserve a lot of credit. I really do.” 

All that will ring a little hollow as he welcomes his “friend” Farage, a man who has twice bought the Conservative Party to its knees over Europe.

Meeting with Trump works for Farage as it plays to his hard Brexiteer base. But the President’s limited popularity in the UK makes an endorsement less appealing.

Boris Johnson, the current favorite to replace May, declined a meeting with Trump, citing a previously planned event for his campaign. He did, however, hold a 20-minute phone call with the President.

For Johnson, it’s possible that declining to meet with Trump in person is more useful than a thumping endorsement. Looking too chummy with Trump could come back to bite him, whereas a short phone call shows that Johnson is a mature politician who wants a good relationship with America. Perhaps. 

The opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, spent his afternoon at an anti-Trump rally. This plays well to his base, who loathe Trump’s brand of nationalism. One can only imagine how delighted Corbyn was to have Trump call him a “somewhat negative force.”

This state visit has been a pleasant distraction from the upcoming mayhem the UK is about to charge headfirst into. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that Trump’s whirlwind trip has done little more than shake up an already chaotic political landscape.

Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage has been seen entering Winfield House in Regent’s Park, the US ambassador’s residence in London, where the Trumps are staying during their visit.

A CNN crew saw the Brexit Party leader being driven in to the residence.

There had been speculation about whether Trump would meet Farage during his stay in the UK. The President suggested last week that he might meet Farage, the Brexit Party leader, who he called a “good guy.”

The pair could have an interesting conversation: Farage has been a stident critic of Theresa May, who Trump just left a press conference with.

Throughout their joint press conference in London, Trump was effusive in his praise for Theresa May, particularly in relation to her handling of Brexit. It was a marked change in tone from the last time the US President was in the UK, when he had nothing but criticism for the way negotiations were going.

This time, just as May is about to step down as Prime Minister, Trump praised her efforts to take Britain out of the European Union, saying she had “teed up” a Brexit deal for her successor.

The outgoing British Prime Minister joked that Trump, on his last visit, had proposed suing the EU. May said she had chosen to negotiate.

“I would have sued and settled, maybe, but you never know,” Trump replied. And in a startling comment for a president who regards himself as a master dealmaker, he added: “She’s probably a better negotiator than I am.”

Trump suggested that history would judge May kindly on her handling of Brexit.

Trump also repeated his false claim that he predicted Britain voting for Brexit the day before it happened. “I really predicted what was going to happen, some of you remember that prediction, it was a strong prediction, made at a certain location at a development we were opening the day before it happened,” he said.

In fact, Trump spoke about Brexit at his Turnberry golf course about Brexit the day after the Brexit vote.

President Trump suggested that American participation in Britain’s National Health Service should be on the table when the two nations negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal.

That will concern anti-Brexit campaigners, who have long warned that relying on a post-Brexit deal would open up the UK’s public health system to private US healthcare companies. It’s a hot-button issue in the UK, where any sense that the NHS could be “privatized” or otherwise opened up to profit is universally seen as a vote-loser.

In response to Trump’s comment, May added: “But the point in making trade deals is, of course, that both sides negotiate and come to an agreement about what should or should not be in that trade deal for the future.”

She did not take the opportunity to state a position on whether the health service would be part of that deal.

Trump’s suggestion didn’t go down well with the UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who is also running to replace May as prime minister. Hancock tweeted that the NHS will “never” be on the table in trade talks on his watch.

Donald Trump said he turned down a meeting with the leader of the UK’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, describing him as a “negative force.”

“I don’t know Jeremy Corbyn, never met him, never spoke to him. He wanted to meet today or tomorrow and I decided that I would not do that,” Trump said at his joint press conference with Prime Minister May.

Moments before the US President started speaking, Corbyn was addressing an anti-Trump protest nearby.

Corbyn refused to attend Trump’s state banquet on Monday, and has been a longtime critic of the President.

Commenting on Trump’s attack on London mayor Sadiq Khan, Corbyn told the rally: “I am very disappointed, particularly today on the wonderful festival of Eid, that our mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been attacked in the way that he has … I am proud that our city has a Muslim mayor.”

President Trump said he’s seen only a “very, very small group” of protesters during his visit to the UK, despite large crowds gathering to rally against his visit.

He continued: “I didn’t see the protesters until just a little while ago, and it was a very, very small group of people put in for political reasons, so it was fake news.”

Many of the protesters have gathered at London’s Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, where a “Trump Baby” blimp was inflated.

Here’s a look at the protests unfolding today:

Boris Johnson and President Trump in 2017

President Trump said former UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson and current UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt would both make good British prime ministers. 

“I know Boris, I like him, I’ve liked him for a long time,” Trump said standing alongside the outgoing UK leader Theresa May.

“I think he would do a very good job,” Trump went on, adding of Hunt: “I know Jeremy, I think he would do a very good job.”

Trump said he didn’t know another contender, Michael Gove, but was assured that he, too, would suffice as prime minister.

As for May, he acknowledged she rejected his advice to sue to EU. But he said that may not have been a mistake.

“She’s probably a better negotiator than I am,” Trump said.

President Trump, asked about his threatened tariffs on Mexico, said he believes the tariffs will go into effect as he scheduled. (They’re due to begin on June 10.)

Trump has said he’s implementing the tariffs because Mexico hasn’t acted on immigration.

“Mexico shouldn’t allow millions of people to try to enter our country, and they could stop it very quickly,” Trump said. “I think they will. If they won’t, we’re going to put tariffs on. Every month those tariffs go from 5% to 10% to 15% to 20 and then to 25%.”

Trump also said if Republicans worked to block the tariffs, they would be mistaken.

 “I don’t think they will do that. If they do, it’s foolish,” he said.

 “I think it’s more likely that the tariffs go on and we will probably be talking during the time that the tariffs are on, and they are going to be paid,” Trump said. 

Britain’s exit from the European Union will happen and should happen, President Trump says.

Praising his British counterpart Theresa May as doing a good job in handling Brexit, he said the planned divorce would be good for the United Kingdom.

“It wants to have its own borders. It wants to run its own affairs. This is a very, very special place and i think it deserves a special place,” Trump said at a joint news conference.

The United States and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement on Huawei, President Trump says.

“We’ll be able to work out differences,” Trump said.

The US has worked to prevent the Chinese telecom giant from developing 5G networks in Europe and elsewhere. US officials have threatened to curb intelligence sharing in countries where the company is allowed to operate.

 “We have an incredible intelligence relationship,” Trump said.

President Trump said London Mayor Sadiq Khan is a “negative force” who has done a “poor job” running the city.

Trump was actually asked his thoughts about the leader of the UK’s opposition party, Jeremy Corbyn. But after Trump started to answer, the same reporter asked British Prime Minister Theresa May about Khan — and Trump began to talk about the London mayor.

He continued: “And I don’t think he should be criticizing a representative of the United States that can do so much good for the United Kingdom.” Trump then added: “He should be positive, not negative. He’s a negative force, not a positive force.”

Some context: Trump and Khan have long exchanged insults. Most recently, Khan compared Trump to a young child after the President called him a “stone-cold loser.”

President Trump said the US will establish a “phenomenal trade deal” with the UK after it leaves the European Union.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has failed to secure Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Last month, she announced her resignation over that. She’s due to step down on Friday.

Prime Minister Theresa May started her remarks at today’s news conference by touting her relationship with President Trump — and pointing out that sometimes they disagree.

She thanked Trump and the US for expelling Russians after the nerve attack in the UK and noted that the US and the UK have always “stood together and acted together.”

She continued:

President Trump said the US and UK “share many goals and priorities around the world.”

President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May are holding a joint news conference in London.

You can watch it live in the player at the top of this story (refresh the page if you don’t see it).