by WorldTribune Staff, June 3, 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump offered “America’s hand in friendship” to a fractured Great Britain upon his arrival across the pond on June 3, Brexit leader Nigel Farage said.
Farage, whose four-month-old Brexit Party pulled off a stunning victory in last month’s EU parliamentary elections, tweeted:
“As Trump arrives in the UK for his 3-day visit, he comes offering a trade deal if we need one, but also America’s hand of friendship. As the democratically elected leader of the free world, we should extend to him a welcome that befits the status of his office & great country.”
Farage claimed that officials in the prime minister’s office had asked Trump not to meet with him, a move which Farage said was “absolutely ludicrous.”
Unconfirmed reports had said that Trump asked for Farage to be in attendance at the state banquet being hosted for the president by Queen Elizabeth II, adding that Trump would be allowed to invite a small number of personal guests.
Trump said of the move to exclude Farage: “I think it is a mistake. He has a lot to offer. He is a very smart person. They won’t bring him in. Think how well they would do if they did. They just haven’t figured that out yet.”
Trump and Farage are understood to keep in touch, with Farage updating the president on the lack of progress the British government is making on taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union. Trump said in an interview ahead of his State Visit that Farage should have been invited to be a part of the Brexit negotiating team.
Trump specifically congratulated Farage and the Brexit Party on their victory in the European Parliament elections and also described Farage as a “friend of mine,” a sentiment echoed by Farage in a tweet in which he said: “It is clear Donald Trump wants Brexit to happen. He is a true friend to Britain.”
Meanwhile, CNN was called out for taking Trump’s comments about Meghan Markle out of context.
CNN reported in its headline: “Trump tells The Sun: Meghan Markle is ‘nasty’ ”.
The chyron on CNN’s television segment on the matter read: “Trump Calls Meghan Markle ‘nasty’ Ahead of UK Trip”.
Jake Tapper got in on the action as well, tweeting: “Meghan Markle is ‘nasty,’ says Trump, and Boris Johnson would do a ‘very good job’ as Prime Minister”.
The real story turns out to be much different than CNN made it out to be.
The full transcript of Trump’s comments concerning Markle, also known as Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex:
Reporter: [Meghan Markle] can’t make it because she has maternity leave. Are you sorry not to see her, because she wasn’t so nice about you during the campaign. I don’t know if you saw that?
Trump: I didn’t know that, no. I didn’t know that. No, I hope she’s OK. I did not know that, no.
Reporter: She said she’d move to Canada if you got elected. It turned out she moved to Britain.
Trump: There are a lot of people moving here [to the U.S.] So what can I say? No, I didn’t know that she was nasty.
Reporter: Is it good having an American princess then, Mr. President? Does that help the link?
Trump: I think it’s nice. I think it’s nice and I’m sure she will do excellently. She will be very good. She will be very good. I hope she does.
Many observers noted that Trump was not calling Markle “nasty” as a person, as CNN implied.
“The president was answering within the context of a question asked of him,” RedState noted.
“This isn’t even one of those times where you have to sort of interpret what Trump meant. The transcript is clear. Anybody that speaks English can read it and see exactly what he was saying. Framing it as Trump asserting that Markle ‘is nasty,’ as CNN did, is simply false.”
In its full context, “this story resembles absolutely none of the impressions the headlines CNN put out are giving,” RedState said.
“Remember this the next time Jake Tapper, Jim Acosta, or whoever at CNN gets their feelings hurt at being called fake news. These people have earned the moniker and continue to justify its use every single day. No one is making them bare their biases so regularly. It’s an active decision. Want more credibility? Act more credibly.”
Intelligence Brief __________ Replace The Media
Farage hails Trump’s UK visit, but Brexit leader not welcome at state dinner added by World Tribune on
View all posts by World Tribune →