(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump said Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will make it difficult for the British prime minister to strike a trade deal with the U.S. after the U.K. leaves the European Union.
In an interview with Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage on LBC Radio, the president said the two countries could do “bigger numbers” if Johnson made a cleaner break with the EU.
“We want to do trade with the U.K. and they want to do trade with us,” Trump said. “Under certain aspects of the deal we can’t do it, we can’t trade, we can’t do a trade deal with the U.K.,’’ he said. “Under certain ways we’re precluded, which is ridiculous by the way.”
Johnson, who reached a new Brexit agreement with Brussels on Oct. 17, is looking to a swift trade deal with the U.S. to show the opportunities available for commerce with the rest of the world after Britain leaves the EU Single Market.
Trump’s warning suggests it will not be as straightforward as his ministers hope.
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said in a speech Thursday that Johnson wants to deliver a “one-sided Trump trade sell-out” in his rush to reach and agreement with Washington. “His toxic Brexit trade deal with Trump could hand over 500 million pounds a week of NHS money to big drugs corporations,” Corbyn told supporters.