President Donald Trump on Friday claimed he had not criticized British Prime Minister Theresa May in an explosive interview with The Sun and said that whatever she decides to do with Brexit is “OK with me“ – another high-speed reversal by a president who has alienated U.S. allies during his tour through Europe.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do, but whatever you do is OK with me. That’s your decision,” the president said during his introductory remarks at a news conference, turning to address May directly. “Whatever you’re going to do is OK with us, just make sure we can trade together, that’s all that matters. The United States looks forward to finalizing a great bilateral trade agreement with the United Kingdom.”


The president’s stated indifference to the outcome of May’s negotiation of her nation’s withdrawal from the European Union marked a sharp departure from the language he used in an interview published Thursday evening with The Sun, a Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid.

In that interview, Trump suggested that May’s Brexit bargaining position, which would include an “association agreement” and a free trade area for goods “will probably kill” a planned trade agreement between the U.S. and UK because it would leave the latter too close to the EU, whose trade policies the U.S. president has slammed as unfair to his nation.

Trump also suggested that May’s position, which has prompted several high-profile resignations within her government, “is a much different deal than the one the people voted on.” Of Boris Johnson, the former British foreign secretary who resigned last week over Brexit and is one of May’s top political rivals, Trump said he would “make a great prime minister.”

But on Friday, Trump emphasized the warm words he had for May in his interview with the Sun, chalking up his criticism of her to “fake news.” Standing side-by-side with May at Chequers, the prime minister’s equivalent of Camp David, the U.S. president told reporters that his British counterpart is a “very, very smart and determined person” and a “tough negotiator.”

“I can tell you, there are a lot of people looking up now saying gee whiz, you know, she left a lot of people in her wake,” Trump said. “I would much rather have her as my friend than my enemy, that I can tell you.”

May, Trump said, was apparently unbothered by his interview with the Sun. He told reporters Friday that he apologized to the British prime minister that his positive remarks about her in the interview did not receive more attention; Trump said May replied, “Don’t worry, it’s only the press.”

Trump said that far from splintering the relationship, his visit to the UK, combined with their time together at the NATO summit has brought the two closer together than they ever were before. The president called her a “terrific woman” who is “doing a terrific job.”

“I must say that I have gotten to know Theresa May much better over the last two days than I've known her over the last year and a half. I mean, we’ve spent more time in the last two days — yesterday I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with her, then I said, ‘What are we doing tomorrow,’ which is today, ‘Oh, you're having breakfast and lunch with Theresa May,’ and I’m going to see you later on again.”

Asked how he would grade U.S.-UK relations, which are said to have a “special relationship,” Trump said he would give the ties between the two nations “the highest level of special,” especially in the wake of his time spent with May.

Trump also saved some praise for himself, breaking into an aside as he spoke about Johnson, the resigned foreign minister, to tell reporters that “I am doing a great job, that I can tell you, just in case you haven’t noticed.” At another point, as he blamed former President Barack Obama for allowing Russia to annex Crimea, Trump said “I’m not bad at doing things.”

Friday’s scene in the British countryside was an echo of the dramatic shift that played out earlier this week at the NATO summit, where Trump spoke of the strength of the alliance after earlier leading diplomats and leaders to believe that he was threatening to pull out of NATO.

Trump traveled directly to the UK from the NATO summit in Brussels, where he clashed with allies over defense spending, which the U.S. president has long argued is far too low among the majority of NATO nations. Trump harangued world leaders throughout the two-day summit, and on Twitter in the days leading up to it, complaining that just a small handful of NATO member-states spend the agreed-upon 2 percent of their gross domestic products on defense.

At one point on Thursday, Trump seemed to threaten that he would pull the U.S. out of NATO if other nations did not increase their defense spending, prompting the organization to convene an emergency meeting.

But by the end of the two-day summit in Brussels, Trump seemed to have been appeased. At a news conference on Thursday, Trump told reporters that “the United States commitment to NATO is very strong, remains very strong” because other NATO leaders had committed at least $33 billion in additional defense spending.

However, French President Emmanuel Macron later denied that Trump had extracted additional significant sums that would go beyond previous agreements.

From Chequers, Trump departed for London, the British capital which he has thus far avoided on his trip. Doing so has until now has kept him away from the throngs of protesters who have flooded London’s streets and who have rallied around a giant inflatable version of Trump, dressed as a baby in a diaper and holding a smartphone, anchored near Parliament.

Among the protesters Friday in London was Michael Avenatti, the Los Angeles-based attorney who represents Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who is suing the president and his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in order to be released from a nondisclosure agreement related to an alleged affair with the president.

In London, Trump will visit Winfield House, the home of the U.S. ambassador to the UK, before departing for Windsor Castle, where he and first lady Melania Trump will have tea with Queen Elizabeth. From there, the Trumps will travel to Scotland, where they will spend the weekend at Turnberry, the president’s golf resort there.