Donald Trump has again broken diplomatic protocol by intervening further in the battle to succeed Theresa May as UK prime minister.
The US president, who arrives in London on Monday for his first state visit, made the case for leaving the EU without a deal, suing the bloc, cancelling the £39bn divorce settlement and sending Nigel Farage to lead negotiations.
Mr Trump made the comments a day after he endorsed his “friend”, the former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, in the Conservative party leadership contest .
International protocol dictates that foreign leaders stay out of domestic matters. But in a sign of the unpredictability that is likely to dominate the visit, Mr Trump attacked Theresa May’s handling of the Brexit negotiations, stating she had left the EU with “very little to lose” and set out an alternative approach for her successor.
“If I were them I wouldn’t pay $50bn. That is me. I would not pay, that is a tremendous number,” he told the Sunday Times.
Several Mrs May’s potential successors have said the UK must leave the bloc on October 31 with or without a deal — including former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey.
Mr Trump endorsed the view that the UK must be ready to leave without a formal treaty. “If they don’t get what they want I would walk away. If you don’t get the deal you want, if you don’t get a fair deal, then you walk away,” he said.
The president praised Mr Farage, leader of the Brexit party and one of his closest political allies in the UK. He said it was “a mistake” not to include him in Brexit negotiations and encouraged the next prime minister to send him to Brussels.
“I like Nigel a lot. He has a lot to offer. He is a very smart person. They won’t bring him in. Think how well they would do if they did. They just haven’t figured that out yet,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign was boosted on Sunday when Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, joined his campaign as a “policy tsar” — his first cabinet-level endorsement. She said he had “the credibility and oomph to lead at this crucial time and bring Britain with us.”
Nicky Morgan, who leads the influential One Nation group of centrist Conservative MPs, announced she was backing environment secretary Michael Gove for the leadership.
Mr Gove, the former education secretary said he was “ready to lead the nation” and has vowed to increase the level of school spending.
There is speculation that he will soon receive the backing of work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd, another prominent moderate Tory.
Ms Rudd was set to run on a joint ticket with Mr Johnson, but the pair ultimately found their Brexit stances to be too far apart.
Mr Gove has told other Cabinet ministers that Brexit might have to be delayed until the end of 2020, as the UK is not ready to leave without a deal in October.
