08 July, 2017
US President Donald Trump said he expects a "powerful" trade deal with the United Kingdom "very, very quickly", confirming that the two countries are now working on an agreement.
Trump (L) talks to British Prime Minister Theresa May (R) during the G20 leaders retreat as part of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, 07 July 2017.
Trump has not directly addressed a US-EU trade deal that was being negotiated under former president Barack Obama, who had said Britain would go to the back of the line for trade deals if it left the bloc.
May also said she was optimistic about hoped-for future trade pacts with the USA and other countries after meeting Trump at the Group of 20 summit.
He added: "Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship and I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries".
In another piece of good news for the Prime Minister, the President also said that "I will be going to London, yes" in response to a press question, but stopped short of saying exactly when.
"We're facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two", said Beasley, a Republican and former SC governor who was nominated by Trump to head the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.
May and Trump's bilateral meeting today is expected to span trade, climate change, and terrorism. But the confirmation comes after speculation over when Trump would be making a visit, with the expectation that there could be large-scale protests when he did arrive, and the omission of any mention of a visit during the Queen's speech last month.
Trump says America will strike a powerful post-Brexit deal with Britain "very quickly".
She added: "Like other world leaders here, I'm dismayed at the U.S. decision to pull out of the Paris agreement and I've urged President Trump to rejoin the Paris agreement".
Trump's pledge came during a working session of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, providing a "godsend" to the U.N. World Food Programme, the group's executive director, David Beasley, told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting.
She added she disagreed with Theresa May who on Friday had said that she thought the U.S. could still decide to return to the Paris accord at some point in the future. The US will want to know what access its companies and banks in Britain will have to the rest of the EU.
