LONDON — Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has said the U.K. leaving the European Union would not impact trade between the U.S. and Britain if he were to become president.
Trump told Piers Morgan in an interview for ITV’s Good Morning Britain that although he had “big investments” in the U.K. he had “no preference” on the June 23 Brexit vote.
However, the business mogul slammed the EU as a “disaster” for migration and as “very, very bureaucratic” and “difficult” for business.
“I think if I were from Britain, I would probably not want it. I’d want to go back to a different system,” he said in the interview, which will air Monday.
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When pushed by Morgan about whether the U.K. would go “to the back of the queue” if Britain chose to leave — a reference to Barack Obama’s assertion the U.S. would prefer to trade with large blocs like the EU — Trump said “certainly not.”
“With me, [Britain will] always be treated fantastically well,” he added. Obama caused a stir during his visit to the U.K. in April when he backed the “Stay” campaign fronted by Prime Minister David Cameron, and indicated that U.S. would opt to finalize the TTIP with the EU before opening trade discussions with Britain, should it exit the trading bloc. Opinion polls show the Stay and Leave campaigns are running neck and neck, with Britons split on the whether the strategic benefits of EU membership outweigh the costly bureaucracy and erosion of national sovereignty. This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
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