Donald Trump is already planning for his second term after a thumping election win. (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump wants to see Brexit becoming a success and will likely give “a preferential trade deal to the UK”, a former member of his team has said.
Peggy Grande, who was a political appointee for Trump in the last year of his first term, thinks tariffs – which the president elect has made a core campaign pledge – will “more greatly affect” the European Union.
Trump, who won a thumping election victory on November 5, has vowed to impose tariffs of up to 20% on goods imported into the US from around the world and 60% on those coming from China, sparking fears of a global trade war.
But Grande told The Independent that Trump, a close political ally of Brexit architect and Reform leader Nigel Farage, “believes in the special relationship”, and has a soft spot for Britain.
“I anticipate that if tariffs are involved, they will more greatly affect the EU than the UK,” she told the news outlet.
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“Donald Trump has a great fondness for the UK and wanted to see a fully implemented successful Brexit and wants to help with that still by giving a preferential trade deal to the UK.”
Grande, who was executive assistant to former President Ronald Reagan from 1989 to 1999, after he left the White House, noted that it may depend on how willing the Labour government is to join the US in exerting financial pressure on Beijing.
“Go back to the US-UK free trade agreement he was working on during his first term – I anticipate he will pick that up right where he left off and lean into it again, especially in alignment with tariffs on China.
“The more our countries can unite to put pressure on China, the more it will benefit us both from a trade perspective,” she said, adding: “It will require both sides, though. Trump is committed. Will the UK be as well? That remains to be seen.”
Phil Murphy, the Democratic governor of New Jersey, echoed her comments, saying he believes the Republican will look favourably on the Britain choosing to leave the “bureaucratic blob” of Brussels.
Donald Trump has long accused the US’s economic partners of ‘ripping off’ Washington. (Image: Getty)
“I have a gut feeling that he looks at the UK’s move out of the EU which, by the way, I have to say was a huge mistake from my perspective,” Murphy told Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme.
“But from his perspective, I think it’s, ‘you know what? These guys had the courage to pull out of this big bureaucratic blob. And I, Donald Trump, have some sympathy with the renegade who has courage’.”
But former British Ambassador to the US Kim Darroch believes Trump’s tariffs would put Downing Street in a difficult position.
In a piece for the Observer, Darroch wrote: “On tariffs, I expect the exact opposite of a mere threat.
“I think Trump will impose tariffs on all US imports immediately and say, ‘If you want them lifted, offer me something to rebalance trade’.
“The EU will almost certainly retaliate and the UK will face a difficult decision. Do we match EU retaliatory tariffs? Or do we seek a bilateral deal, like a free trade agreement?”
Darroch, who resigned as Britain’s man in Washington in 2019 after diplomatic cables between him and Downing Street in which he described the then Trump White House as “inept” and “clumsy” were leaked, also suggested it could be dire for British farming too.
“I think an FTA would be on offer from Trump as in 2017: but the top US demand, as was the case then, would be unrestricted access to the UK market for the low-cost products of the US agricultural sector, hormone-treated beef and chlorine-washed chicken included. So the stark choice would be: side with the EU or sacrifice our agriculture,” he said.
Treasury minister Darren Jones said Whitehall officials will be “considering lots of different scenarios” amid fears about the impact of tariffs on the UK economy.
Mr Jones said: “Officials will be considering lots of different scenarios but the position of the Government is that we support free trade and we support the trading relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.
“It’s a very strong, very fruitful relationship, both for us but also for the American economy and of course we want to protect that and strengthen it in the years ahead.”
He added: “And I think President-elect Trump has said that. He recognises the important relationship the US has with the UK, and that’s the basis on which we will be co-operating in future years.”