Donald Trump has assured the United Kingdom it is “very well protected” from future tariffs – because he “likes them.”
The US president was speaking alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the G7 summit in Canada, where the pair signed off on a trade deal between the two nations.
The deal will see the UK aerospace sector face no American tariffs at all, whilst the and the auto sector will have 10% tariffs, down from 25%.
READ MORE: Trump says Ukraine war wouldn’t have happened if Russia was still part of G7
As the pair announced the agreement, there was still an inevitable gaff from Trump, who wrongly said the deal was with the European Union – after he’d dropped it on the floor.
He said: “I just signed it, and it’s done. And so we have our trade agreement with the European Union, and it’s a fair deal for both, and it produces a lot of jobs, a lot of income.”
But the Republican gave glowing praise of Sir Keir, giving a message to the people of the UK that the prime minister has “done a great job.”
Despite being on opposite sides of the political spectrum, it seems Trump is rather fond of the Labour leader, telling reporters: “We’re very longtime partners and allies and friends, and we’ve become friends in a short period of time. He’s slightly more liberal than I am.”
Asked if the UK would be protected from future tariffs, the president said: “The UK is very well protected. You know why? Because I like them – that’s their ultimate protection.”
He added: “The prime minister has done a great job. I want to just tell that to the people of the United Kingdom. He’s done a very, very good job. He’s done what other people, they’ve been talking about this deal for six years, and he’s done what they haven’t been able to do. So he’s done really a very good job.”
The comments came as the pair met for talks at the G7, where Starmer was expected to push Trump for new sanctions on Russia and for him to help end the conflict between Israel and Iran, the Guardian reports.
Trump ended up leaving the summit in Canada early, although he has said this is “nothing to do” with working on an Israel-Iran ceasefire.