BY JAMES SIMONS
America and the UK are in relationship drama, after Donald Trump indicated he may not have a very good relationship with David Cameron if he becomes American President.
The comments from Trump came following an interview with Piers Morgan, in which the British television host questioned Trump about his reaction to comments from Cameron calling him ”stupid” divisive, and wrong.
Morgan also highlighted comments from new London Mayor, Sadiq Khan , in which he called the U.S president ”ignorant”. Trump sent a message back to Khan saying the comments were rude and that he won’t forget those comments . Spokesmen for Cameron and Khan both stood by their comments, though they cannot possibly have been expected to retract their comments, as this would have been a sign of weakness. America and UK surely are in a relationship strain with all these serious words being expressed via the media.
Trump sarcastically asked for an IQ test in response to the Mayor’s comments that he was ignorant, but the London Mayor has already correctly responded by stating that intelligence is different from ignorance. Khan is right, that intelligence is different to ignorance but comments from the Mayor that Trump’s comments were ignorant was also unnecessary. His comments should have been called dangerous, rather than ignorant since the latter terminology in itself was dangerously confrontational. Cameron’s comments that Trump’s remarks were divisive was spot on, but also unwise considering the high likelihood of Trump becoming president. Trump has made clear that he most likely will not have a good relationship with Cameron, and this spells disaster for relations between both UK and America
Cameron and Khan will be hoping Trump doesn’t win the elections, however support for Trump is growing in many parts of America despite some division in his own party. These are troublesome times for UK and U.S relations, with the strain between the two countries deepening the more these divisive comments are spread. Both countries have always been allies, but that is all on the line now. Trump and Khan can never have a good relationship, and Cameron is also not likely to be able to repair what is already a strained relationship. The only hope UK have of restoring the damage between the two is if Boris Johnson replacing Cameron in the event Britain leaves the EU following the national referendum next month. And that’s assuming leaving the EU works out for Britain and doesn’t produce the predicted economic shocks.
‘Anti-terror’
Last year, Mr Trump, who has beaten his rivals to become the presumptive Republican candidate, called for a temporary halt to all Muslims entering the US in the wake of the deadly terror attack in San Bernardino, California.
He said many Muslims nursed a “hatred” towards America and a ban should be in force “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.
Responding to Mr Trump’s comments at the time, Mr Cameron said: “I think his remarks are divisive, stupid and wrong and I think if he came to visit our country I think it’d unite us all against him.”
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain earlier on Monday, Mr Trump said: “It looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship, who knows.
“I hope to have a good relationship with him, but it sounds like he’s not willing to address the problem either.”
Mr Trump said he was not anti-Muslim but “anti-terror”, saying “we have a real problem and we have to discuss it”, as he called on Muslims to work with the people and “turn people in” that they suspected of extremism.
“I have many Muslim friends,” he said, “I was with one the other day, one of the most successful men, he’s Muslim and he said, ‘Donald you have done us such a favor, you have brought out a problem that nobody wants to talk about’.”
David Cameron says Trump’s comments are ‘divisive, stupid and wrong’
He also criticized what he called the “very rude statements” made about him by Sadiq Khan after Mr Trump suggested he would make an “exception” to the ban for the London mayor.
Mr Khan, the first directly-elected Muslim mayor of a major Western capital city, dismissed Mr Trump’s offer and accused the US presidential hopeful of holding “ignorant” views of Islam which “could make both our countries less safe” by playing in to the hands of extremists.
I won’t be Donald Trump’s Muslim ‘exception’
Responding, Mr Trump told ITV: “I am offended, he doesn’t know me.”
“I think they were very rude statements and, frankly, tell him I will remember those statements,” he added.
Mr Trump also challenged Mr Khan to an IQ test.
But as the public spat between the two men continued, a spokesman for Mr Khan said US voters would reject Mr Trump’s “ignorant, divisive and dangerous” views.
He said there were “no plans” to seek direct talks with Mr Trump and mocked his IQ challenge, saying: “Ignorance is not the same thing as lack of intelligence.”
‘Back of the queue’
Mr Trump, who is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party after pushing out more than a dozen rivals during the US primary season to be a candidate in the race for the White House, reiterated that he backed the UK leaving the European Union.
In contrast to US President Barack Obama, who has warned that an EU exit would leave the UK at the “back of the queue” in trade talks, Mr Trump said he did not think it would harm the UK’s trade position.
“It wouldn’t make any difference to me whether they were in the EU or not,” he said. “They certainly wouldn’t be back of the queue, that I can tell you.”
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that it “can’t be good” if Mr Trump were to be elected as US president in November.