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Trump to Visit UK Despite Controversy | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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US President Donald Trump and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May sit at the start of the first working session of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/John MACDOUGALL,POOL


US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he still planned on going to London for a state visit, which was in doubt after British Prime Minister Theresa May’s conservatives lost a majority in parliament.

“I will be going to London,” Trump said in a pool report on a meeting between the president and May at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. A date for the visit is still be worked out, he added.

Trump said that he and May have developed a “very special” relationship. He said that they would have tremendous talks on a “very powerful deal” on trade.

Trump and May first discussed a state visit during May’s visit to the White House earlier this year. However, no date had been set.

Confirming that the two countries are currently working on an agreement, he said he would visit London in the near future.

“There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries,” Trump said. “We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly.”

The US president said he and May “have developed a very special relationship,” adding that he believed “trade will be a very big factor between” the two countries.

Following her meeting with Trump, May said she was looking forward to welcoming Trump to London, but noted both sides still are working to find a “suitable date.”

She said she was optimistic about possible future trade pacts with Washington and other countries.

May, in a pointed rebuke of critics, has played up the prospects of increasing trade with “old friends and new partners” like China, India and Japan after the UK leaves the European Union.