GETTY • PA
Donald Trump has spoken of his late mother's affection for the Queen
The American leader is believed to have described to Theresa May how his late mother was a big fan of Her Majesty during his first phone call with the Prime Minister following his election.
Conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg has hailed President Trump’s “genuine affection” for Britain as “good news”, as Mrs May seeks to establish a relationship with the new White House occupant.
Mr Rees-Mogg, a prominent Brexit backer, also cited President Trump’s support for Britain quitting the EU as promising for future US-UK ties.
Speaking to Express.co.uk ahead of President Tump’s inauguration, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “From a UK point of view, it’s good news.
“Trump is sympathetic to the UK. He talks about how much his mother loved the Queen.
“I think that’s a genuine affection and of course he predicted Brexit when everyone else was saying it would never happen.
“That’s helped because it makes him feel he’s on our side and – although I think there are many differences between his election and Brexit – I think he feels to some extent it’s a victory of the people against the Establishment.”
President Trump is set to be invited by the Queen to a state visit to Britain, expected to be this Spring, with Mr Rees-Mogg insisting there should be no doubt about the controversial businessman receiving full VIP treatment in the UK.
He said: “There are no second-tier state visits. If you come on a state visit you go for a ride in a carriage with the Queen, you get invited to a state dinner, you get to stay in Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle and the protective guard turns out to be inspected by you.
“You either come on a state visit or you don’t so of course our closest ally should be treated in the most honoured way.”
Of course our closest ally should be treated in the most honoured way
Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg
The senior Tory described the Queen as “unquestionably” Britain’s “secret weapon in foreign affairs”.
He said: “She’s been there so long. The Queen is the most distinguished individual in the world.
“The only competition is from the Holy Father but those two are on a different level from everybody else.
“Therefore heads of state even of the most powerful countries such as China and the United States want to meet and get to know the Queen.
“This is extremely helpful for us.”
PA
Jacob Rees-Mogg hailed President Trump's 'genuine affection' for the UK
LIVE: Donald Trump becomes U.S. PRESIDENT
Fri, January 20, 2017
The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States will mark the commencement of the four-year term of Donald Trump as President and Mike Pence as Vice President. A public ceremony will be held on Friday, January 20, 2017, on the West Front of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
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Donald Trump becomes U.S. President, January 20th, 2017.
In a recent interview with Vote Leave campaigner and journalist Michael Gove, President Trump sounded bullish about the prospect of a US-UK free trade deal once Britain completes its departure from the EU.
Mr Rees-Mogg claimed “the bones of a trade deal could be worked out quite quickly” once President Trump formally takes office.
He said: “There’s a lot of goodwill and we already do a huge amount of trade with the US. It’s our biggest single trading partner by nation rather than by trading bloc.
“So there’s already the basis for a good deal and we can make it better by taking tariffs off American goods, allowing American goods to compete with EU goods.”
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