The United States and Britain have long prized their “special relationship,” but early signs indicate that if Donald J. Trump wins the presidency the bond between the two allies could be weakened.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Sadiq Khan, London’s new mayor, have both spoken out against Mr. Trump’s plan to halt immigration of Muslims into the United States, with Mr. Cameron calling the proposal “stupid and wrong” and Mr. Khan calling Mr. Trump “ignorant” about Islam. In an interview with Britain’s ITV television station that was published on Monday, Mr. Trump hit back against the criticism and warned that it would not be forgotten.
“It looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Cameron in the interview with ITV’s Piers Morgan.
He added, “I hope to have a good relationship with him, but it sounds like he’s not willing to address the problem either.”
As for Mr. Khan, who is London’s first Muslim mayor, Mr. Trump said that his remarks were “very nasty.”
“Tell him I will remember those statements,” Mr. Trump said to Mr. Morgan, who was the winning contestant on the candidate’s reality TV show, “Celebrity Apprentice,” in 2008.
Mr. Trump’s policy proposals have been stirring backlash abroad in recent months. The Mexican government has said that he was harming its relationship with the United States and Chinese state media has said that Mr. Trump is evidence of what is wrong with Democracy. In January, the U.K. Parliament debated barring Mr. Trump from traveling there in response to a petition that said his hateful language was grounds for keeping him out of the country.
In the ITV interview, Mr. Trump also weighed in on the debate over whether Britain should exit the European Union. Breaking with the Obama administration, which has warned about the trade implications of such a move, Mr. Trump said the E.U. has been a “disaster” and suggested that Britain would be better off without it.
Despite the tension between Mr. Trump and Britain’s leaders, the presumptive Republican nominee said that its E.U. status would not affect trade deals he would make and that he is committed to a strong alliance.
“Britain’s been a great ally,” Mr. Trump said. “With me, they’ll always be treated fantastically.”
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