that after telling the british newspaper that the prime minister didn't take his advice on brexit and that would imperil trade with the u.s. >> well good afternoon i'm pleased to welcome president of the united states to checkers today on his first official visit to the united kingdom. no two countries do more together than ours to keep their people safe and prosperous. and we want to deepen that cooperation even further. to meet the shared challenges we face now and in years ahead. this morning, president trump and i visited sandhurst, where we saw a demonstration of joint working between british and american special forces.

just one example of what is today the broadest, deepest and most advanced security cooperation of any two countries in the world. whether it is our pilots deterring the use of chemical weapons in syria or defeating daesh, our soldiers at the owe forefront of nato's preparation in eastern europe. our navys in the pacific, or our unparalleled intelligence sharing partnership thwarting attacks, our security cooperation is saving lives here in britain, in america and right across the world. that partnership is set to grow. with our armies integrating to a level unmatched anywhere. and the uk set to spend $24 billion pounds on u.s. equipment and support over the next decade. today we've also discussed how we can deepen our work together to respond to malign state activity, terrorism and serious crime. in particular, on russia, i thanked president trump for his

support in responding to the appalling use of a nerve agent in salisbury after which he expelled 60 russian intelligence officers. and i welcomed his meeting with president putin in helsinki on monday. we agree that it is important to engage russia from a position of strength and unity, and that we should continue to deter and counter all efforts to undermine our democracies. turning to our economic cooperation with mutual investment between us already over $1 trillion, we want to go further. we agree today that as the uk leaves the european union, we will pursue an ambitious u.s./uk free trade agreement. the checkers agreement reached last week provides the platform for donald and me to agree on an ambitious deal that works with both countries right across our economies. a deal that builds on the uk's independent trade policy, reducing tariffs, delivering a gold standard in financial services cooperation, and as two of the world's most advanced economies, seizing the opportunity of new technology.

all of this will further enhance our economic cooperation, creating new jobs and prosperity for our peoples for generations to come. the uk/u.s. relationship is also defined by the role we play on the world stage. doing this means making tough calls. and sometimes being prepared to say things that others might rather not hear. from the outset, president trump has been clear about how he sees the challenges we face. and on many, we agree. for example, the need to deal with the longstanding nuclear threat of dprk, where the agreement in singapore has set in train the prospect of denuclearization, to which the uk is proud to be contributing expertise or the need to address the destabilizing influence of iran in the middle east where today we've discussed what more we can do to push back on iran in yemen and reduce you'llen therrien suffering. or the need for nato allies to increase their defense spending and capability on which we saw significant increases at

yesterday's summit. this includes afghanistan, where this week i announced a further uplift of 440 uk troops. and ongoing commitment to a mission that began as nato's only use of article 5, acting in support of the u.s. finally let me say this about the wider trans-atlantic relationship. it is all of our responsibility to insure that trans-atlantic unity endures, for it has been fundamental to the protection and projection of our interests and values for generations. with u.s. leadership at its foundation, its beating heart remains our democratic values and our commitment to justice. those values are something that we in the uk will always cherish, as i know the u.s. will, too. it is the strength of these values and the common interests they create, that we see across the breadth of our societies in north america and europe. that's why i'm confident that this trans-atlantic alliance will continue to be the bedrock

of our shared prosperity for years to come. mr. president? >> thank you very much, thank you. prime minister thank you very much. and it is my true honor to join you at this remarkable setting, truly magnificent. as we celebrate the special relationship between our two countries on behalf of the american people. i want to thank you for your very gracious hospitality, thank you very much, theresa. last night melania and i were delighted to join you and phillip for dinner at the magnificent blenham palace, it was a wonderful and memorable evening that we will not soon forget. today it's a true privilege to visit historic checquers, that i've read so much about. and to continue our conversation which has really proceeded along rapidly and well over the last few days. for generations our predecessors

have gathered at this stunning retreat to strengthen a bond that is like no other. the relationship between our two nations is indispensable to the cause of liberty, justice and peace. the united kingdom and the united states are bound together by a common historic heritage, language and heroes. through the traditions of freedom, sovereignty and the true rule of law were our shared gift to the world. they're now our priceless inheritance to a civilization. we must never cease to be united in their defense and in their renewal. before our dinner last night, melania and i joined prime minister may, mr. may, and the duke and duchess of marlborough, for a tour of the winston churchill exhibit at bleinham palace.

it was from here at chequers that prime minister churchill, in world war ii where service members shed their blood alongside one another in defense of home and in defense of freedom. and together we achieved a really special magnificent victory and it was total victory. prime minister may and i have just come from a very productive nato summit that was truly a productive summit. where my top priority was getting other nato members to pay their full and fair share and the prime minister was right there with me. i want to thank you, prime minister, for the united kingdom's contribution to our common defense. the uk is one of the handful of nations, five out of 29, not good, but it's going to get better really fast. in addition to the united states meeting the 2% gdp minimum

defense spending commitment. during the summit i made clear all nato allies must honor their obligations, and i'm pleased to report that we have received substantial commitments from members to increase their defense spending, and to do so in a much more timely manner. stopping nuclear proliferation. i thanked prime minister may for her partnership in our pursuit of a nuclear-free north korea. it's been a tremendous help. >> the prime minister and i also discussed iran. we both agree that iran must never possess a nuclear weapon. we must halt, i'm going to do it she's all going to do it and we're all going to do it together, we have to stop terrorism. we have to stop terrorism and we have to get certain countries,

and we've come a long way i believe the funding of terrorism has to stop and it has to stop now. i encourage the prime minister to sustain pressure on the regime and she needed absolutely no encouragement, because she in fact also encourages me. and we're doing that and we're doing that together. very closely coordinated. the united kingdom and the united states are also strengthening cooperation between our armed force who is serve together on battlefields, all around the world. today the prime minister and i viewed several u.s./uk special forces demonstration. we saw some demonstrations today, frankly that were incredible. the talent of these young brave strong people. we saw it at the royal military academy at sandhurst. cooperation is vital to address the many shared security threats.

we have threats far different than we've ever had before. they've always been out there, but these are different and they're severe and we will handle them well. we also recognize the vital importance of border security and immigration control. in order to prevent foreign acts of terrorism within our shores. we must prevent terrorists, and their supporters from gaining admission in the first place. border security is a national security problem. and in the united states we're working very hard to get the democrats to give us a couple of votes so we can pass meaningful and powerful border security. i also want to thank prime minister may for pursuing fair and reciprocal trade with the united states. once the brexit process is concluded, and perhaps the uk has left the eu, i don't know what they're going to do, whatever you do is okay with me, that's your decision.

whatever you're going to do is okay with us. just make sure we can trade together, that's all that matters. the united states looks forward to finalizing a great bilateral trade agreement with the united kingdom. this is an incredible opportunity for our two countries and we will seize it fully. we support the decision of the british people to realize full self-government and we will see how that goes, very complicated negotiation and not an easy negotiation, that's for sure. a strong and independent united kingdom like a strong and inpent united states is truly a blessing on the world. prime minister may, i want to thank you again for the honor of visiting the united kingdom, a special place. my mother was born here. so it means something maybe just a little bit extra. maybe even a lot extra. and we had a wonderful visit last night i think i got to know the prime minister better than at any time. we spent a lot of time together over a year and a half. but last night we really, i was

very embarrassed for the rest of the it table. we just talked about lots of different problems and solutions to those problems. fwgs it was a great evening we continue a long tradition of friendship, collaboration and affection between ourselves and also between our people. the enduring relationship between our nations has never been stronger than it is now. so madam prime minister, thank you very much. it's been an honor. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. president. >> we will we're going to take four questions each. i'll start off with laura. >> thank you very much prime minister and mr. president. bbc news, mr. president, you seem rather to have changed your tune from what you said earlier this week when you said that on the current brexit plan, that would probably kill the possibility of a trade deal with the uk. our countries are meant to have

a special relationship, yet you publicly criticized the prime minister's policy and her personally for not listening to you this week. is that really the behavior of a friend? and prime minister, isn't the problem for you that some of the things mr. trump has said about your brexit plan are right, it will limit the possibilities of doing trade deals easily in the future. can you also tell us how it felt for him to criticize you in the way he did in that interview? >> well maybe i'll go first, because i didn't criticize the prime minister. i have a lot of respect for the prime minister and unfortunately there was a story that was done, which was you know generally fine. but it didn't put in what i said about the prime minister. and i said tremendous things. and fortunately we tend to record stories now. so we have it for your enjoyment, if you like it. but we record when we deal with reporters, it's called fake news, we solve a lot of problems with the good old recording instrument. what happens is that look, the

prime minister as i really just said, she's going to make a decision as to what she's going to do. the ohm thing i ask of theresa is that we make sure we don't have any restrictions because we want to trade with the uk and the uk wants to trade with us. we're by far their biggest trading partner. and we have a tremendous opportunity to double, triple, quadruple that. if they go in a slightly different route, i know they want to be independence, it's going to be independence, it's just your definition. they're going to go a certain route. i just said i hope you're going to be able to trade with the united states. i read reports where that won't be possible. but i believe after speaking with the prime minister's people and representatives and trade experts, it will absolutely be possible. so based on that, i based on trade in general, and our other relationship, which will be fine, but the trade is a little bit tricky.

we want to be able to trade and they want to be able to trade and i think we'll be able to do that. okay? i think she's doing a terrific job, by the way. >> thank you, mr. president and just to confirm what the president has said, laura, there will be no limit to the possibility of us doing trade deals around the rest of the world once we leave the european union on the basis of the agreement that was mid here at chequers and that i put forward to the european union. that's an agreement that delivers on the brexit vote that we had in 2016. here in the uk. that delivers what i believe is at the forefront of people's minds when they were voting to leave the european union. so at the end of these negotiations we will insure that free movement will come to an end, the jurisdiction of the european court of justice here in the uk will come to an end. the sending of vast sums of money every year to the eu will come to an end, we will come out of the common agricultural policy and come out of the common fishers policy. we will insure not being in the customs unit that we're able to

have an independent trade policy and do those trade deals around the world. and as you've heard from the president, the united states is keen for us, we're keen to work with them, and we will do a trade deal with them and with others around the rest of the world. >> jonathan swan go, ahead. >> jonathan swan from axios, mr. president, two questions if i may. the first one now your british trip is coming to a close. could you tell us the three or four things you hope to achieve in your meeting with vladimir putin? and the second question, what's the benefit to america of having tens of thousands of american troops stationed in europe? thank you. >> so i'll be meeting with president putin on monday. we go into the meeting with a tremendous meeting that we have had with nato. most of you have reported it correctly. it was certainly, it was testy at the beginning, but at the end everybody came together and they

agreed to do what they should do. and actually what they've committed to do. which you fully adhered to. you didn't have a problem. but some people did. and we left that meeting, i think probably more unified, and wealthier as a group than ever before. so we go in strong. we'll be talking to president putin about a number of things. iran, syria. we'll be talking about other parts of the middle east. i will be talking about nuclear proliferation. because we are massively, you know, you know what we've been doing. we've been modernizing and fixing and buying and it's just a devastating technology. and they likewise are doing a lot. it's a very, very bad policy. we have no choice. but we are massively big and

they are very big and i'll be talking about nuclear proliferation, that would be a great thing if we could do it. not only us, not only russia and the united states, it's other countries also. but we're the two leaders, we would be the leader, they would be second, i guess china would be third. i think we'll all be talking about that. i, to me, jonathan, i think that would be a tremendous, it would be a tremendous a i cheevment if we could do something on nuclear proliferation, we'll be talking about other things, i know you'll ask, will we be talking about meddling and i will absolutely bring that up. i don't think you'll have any gee, i did it, i did it you got me. there won't be a perry mason here, i don't think, but you never know what happens, right? but i will absolutely, firmly ask the question. and hopefully we'll have a very good relationship with russia. i think having and the prime minister would agree, we have a good relationship with russia and with china and with other countries, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. so hopefully that will happen,

jonathan, okay? is the troops where, where? >> well look there is a benefit. there's a psychological benefit and a military benefit. there's also a benefit not to do it. i mean i was prepared to do things that would have been somewhat harsh yesterday, a lot of people were surprised that nato all came together at the end. it wasn't a threat. it was just an unfair situation. the united states was paying you know anywhere from 70 to 90 and i choose 90, depending on the way you want to calculate. we were paying 90% of the cost of nato. and nato is really there for europe much more so than us. it helps europe, no matter what military people say, it helps europe more than it helps us. that being said, it is a great unifier. we have 29 countries and there was a lot of love in that room, we have a lot more, jonathan,

when you say 10,000 troops, we have a lot more than 10,000 troops. how much? >> tens of thousands. >> i thought you said 0,000. in germany we have 52,000 troops, we have a lot of troops in europe. we're helping europe, they're helping us, we're all together and i'm fine with it. >> very importantly, they're now paying their way in a much more rapid fashion. >> frances? >> francis of the "times." prime minister i wonder whether you agree with the president of the united states that immigration has damaged the cultural fabric of europe and president, perhaps you could elaborate on that. what do you mean by that? >> i think it's been very bad for europe. i think europe is a place i know very well and i think that what has happened is very tough. it's a very tough situation. i mean you see the same terror

attacks that i do. we see them a lot. we just left some incredible young men and women at sandhurst and they were showing us cells and they were showing us things that frankly 20 years ago nobody even thought about. probably a lot more recently than that. i just think it's changing the culture. i think it's very negative thing for europe. i think it's very negative. i think having germany and i have a great relationship with angela merkel. great relationship with germany. but i think that's, very much hurt germany i think it's very much hurt other parts of europe. and i know it's politically not necessarily correct to say that. i'll say it and i'll say it loud and i think they better watch themselves because you are changing culture, are you changing a lot of things, you're changing security. look at what's happening. you take a look, look what's happening to different countries that never had difficulty.

never had problems, it's a very sad situation it's very unfortunate. but i do not think it's good for europe and i don't think it's good for our country. we're as you know, far superior to anything that's happened before. but we have very bad immigration laws. and we're we're doing incredibly well considering the fact that we virtually don't have immigration laws. we have laws that are so bad i don't even call them laws, i call them -- it's just like you just walk across the border. you walk across the border, you put one foot on the land and now you're tied up in a lawsuit for five years. it's the craziest thing i've ever seen. i would make that recommendation to europe. i've made it very loud and clear. i made it yesterday. 29 countries, total. and that's the way i feel. >> the uk has a proud history of welcoming people who are fleeing persecution to our country. we have a proud history of welcoming people who want to come to our country to contribute to our economy and

contribute to our society. and over the years, overall immigration has been good for the uk. it's brought people with different back grounds, different outlooks here to the uk and has, we've seen them contributing to our society and to our economy. of course what is important, is that we have control of our borders, what is important is that we have a set of rules that enables us to determine who comes into our country. and of course that is what as a government we have been doing, for a number of years and will be able to continue to do in the future. mr. president? >> mr. president -- >> thank you very much. >> spent the week taking on nato allies, criticizing prime minister may on her own soil. and i wonder if, are you giving russian president vladimir putin the upper hand heading into your talks, given that are you challenging these alliances that he seeks to break up and destroy? >> see, that's such dishonest reporting, because of course it happens to be nbc which is possibly worse than cnn,

possibly. possibly. let me explain something. we have left nato with more money, with more unity, with more spirit, than nato probably has ever had. we have a strong and powerful nato. when i became president, we didn't, we had people that weren't paying their bills. we had people that were way down. we had people that weren't following their commitments. in addition to that, we've become an oil exporter, which would not have happened under the past regime or a new regime if it weren't us. we have built up our military, $700 billion and next year as you know, $716 billion. when you look at what we've done in terms of russia, i guarantee whoever it is in russia, they're saying oh, gee, do we wish that trump was not the viktor in that election. we have been far tougher on russia than anybody anybody and look i'm not going to go down 100 years, but certainly we have

been extremely tough on russia, including the fact that when the prime minister called, when they had a horrible thing happen, right here, very close by, she asked would i do something and i maybe i would let you tell the number and it was far greater than anybody else, including the prime minister. we, we expelled how many people? you know, 60. and germany did three, as an example so germany, big country, powerful country, they did three. the fake news doesn't want to talk about it. so it really is, we have been very strong on russia. now with all that being said, if i had a relationship with putin, i don't know him. i met him twice, maybe three times, two and a half times. most of you were there when we did, we met him at the g20. and if we could develop a relationship, which is good for russia, good for us, good for everybody, that would be great. if i had a relationship with china, you know we're in a big

trade situation with china as an example. where we're behind every year for many years, $500 billion. it's not going to happen any more if we get along with countries, that's a good thing. if we get along with china, russia, that's not a bad thing. >> i take your point, but what happened, the end of nato. >> it isn't the headline. yes there was fighting because i said you got to put up more money. we have to be stronger, we to be unified. the headline he sees isn't what is happening during the morning. the headline he see is is what's happening in the afternoon. we came together as one. they're putting up billions of dollars more. i'll give you an example, and you know this is a confirmed number, $34 billion more was raised since i became president in nato. that means that the other 28 countries have put in $34 billion more into nato, do you

think putin is happy about that? i don't think so. but we have a lot of false reporting in this country. i don't think you have that in your country, do you, prime minister? okay. go ahead. ask the prime minister. >> i would like to ask you a question as well. president trump told the "sun," think the deal she is striking on brexit is not what the people voted for. is he wrong? are you offering up a brexit lite? and i wonder if you we could get your reaction to him saying boris johnson would be a great prime minister. >> on the deal that we have put on the table. the agreement that we have put on the table. as i said earlier in response to laura's first question, this does deliver on the vote of the british people. the british people voted to leave the european union and i heard the turn of phrase hat president used earlier. let me be very clear about this. we will be leaving the european union. and we are leaving on the 2th of march, 2019. as we leave the european union we will be delivering on what people voted for. an end to free movement.

an end to sending vast amounts of money to the european union every year, an end to the jurisdiction of the european court of justice here in the united kingdom. coming out of the common fisheries policy. coming out of the common agricultural policy and insuring by coming out of the customs union that we can have an independent trade policy that enables us to negotiate trade deals with the united states and other countries around the rest of the world. that's what the british people voted for and that's what we will be delivering. we will deliver it in a way that protects jobs and livelihoods and meets our commitment to the border between northern ireland and ireland. and robert? >> boris, the president? >> i'll respond. they said unrelated, not related to, we have the tape, you can ask sara, get it from sara. we taped the entire interview. they asked about boris johnson. i said yeah, how would he be as a prime minister? i said he'll be a great prime minister. he's been very nice to me. he's been saying very nice things about me as president.

he thinks i'm doing a great job, i am doing a great job. that i can tell you, in case you haven't noticed. boris johnson would be a great prime minister. i also said that this incredible woman right here is doing a fantastic job. a great job and i mean that. and i must say that i have gotten to know theresa may, much better over the last two days than i've known herror over the last year and a half. we spent more time over the last two days. yesterday i had breakfast, lunch and dinner with her and i said what are we doing tomorrow? you're having breakfast and lunch with theresa may and i'm going to see you later on again. i've gotten to know her better than ever and i think she's a terrific woman and i think she's doing a terrific job and that brexit is a very tough situation, that's a tough deal between the borders and the entries into the countries and all of the things. so she's going to do the best. the only thing i ask is that she work it out so that we can have very even trade. we do not have a fair deal with

the european union right now on trade. they treat the united states horribly and that's going to change. and if it doesn't change they're going to have to pay a very big price and they know what that price is. so they're coming over on july 25th to see me. and hopefully we can work something out but they have barriers that are beyond belief. barriers where they won't take our farm products, they won't take many of our things, including our cars, they charge us tariffs on cars far greater than we charge them. as you know, you know all these things. last year we lost $151 billion with the european union. we not going to have that any longer, okay? thank you. >> robert preston, itv. mr. president, how would you characterize your relationship with the united kingdom? more special than with other countries? and by the way, on farm products, i think on the prime minister's deal, you wouldn't be allowed export many of your farm products to the uk.

would that be a problem for you? and prime minister, the president said yesterday that he gave you advice about how to negotiate brexit. that you didn't take that advice. i wondered what that advice was and whether you have any regrets about not taking it. >> robert, lots of people give me advice about how to negotiate with the european union. my job is getting out there and doing it and that's exactly what i've done. as we've been going through these negotiations, there have been one or two skeptical voices perhaps from some of you arrayed before me today about when we would achieve what we would achieve in december, we have got that joint report, joint agreement on citizens' rights and other issues, we got the implementation period in march. we put forward a proposal, the two proposals the european commission put forward are not ak sem abt to the uk. we said no to those and we've put our own proposal on the table for the future. i said in answer to the questions. the question delivers op the

brexit deal. but also insures that we can have smooth trade with the european union in the future and in terms of the united states and trade with the united states. the there will be questions on some of the trade issues about the standards we have here for certain products. and how we want to deal with those in the trade deal. that will be a matter for the negotiations. >> so i would say i give our relationship in terms of grade, the highest level of special so we start off with special. i would give our relationship with the uk and now especially after this two days, with your prime minister. the highest level of special. am i allowed to go am i allowed to go higher than that? the highest level of special. very special people, it's a very special country and i have a relationship because my mother was born in scotland. very important. as far as the advice, i did give her a suggestion. i wouldn't say advice. i think she found it maybe too brutal and that's, because i can

see that. i don't know if you remember what i said. i did give her a certain amount. i gave her a suggestion, not advice. i would give her a suggestion. i could fully understand why she thought it was a little bit tough. maybe someday she'll do that. if they don't make the right deal, she might very well do what i suggested that she might want to do. it is not an easy thing. look at the united states, how the european union has taken advantage systematically of the united states on trade. it's a disgrace. it's not an easy negotiation. >> can i ask you a question? >> john roberts go, ahead. no, no. >> can i ask you a question? cnn is fake news, i don't take questions from fake news. cnn is take news, i don't take questions from cnn. john roberts from fox. let's go to a real network. >> we'll a real network, too, sir. >> some people have suggested

that relations between the united states and russia are at the lowest point since the cold war. you have stated many times that you think it's important to have a better relationship with russia. is there any way for relations between the united states and russia to improve? as long as putin continues to occupy crimea? >> i think i would have a very good relationship with president putin if we spend time together. i may be wrong. other people have said that, it didn't work out. but i'm different than other people. i think that we're being hurt very badly by the, i would call it the witch hunt, i would call it the rigged wig hunt after watching some of the little clips, i didn't get to watch too much. i'm here, it's a different time zone. after watching the people that the man what that was testifying yesterday. i would call it the rigged witch hunt. i think that really hurts our country and it really hurts our relationship with russia. i think we would have a chance to have a very good relationship with russia and a very good chance, a very good relationship

with president putin. i would hope so. what is your thinking about improving relations with russia while they continue to illegally occupy another country? >> yes, they do. and if you're talking about crimea, yeah. but again, president obama failed very badly with crimea. i don't think he would have done that if i were president. he took over crimea and he actually took it over during the obama administration. i think you will admit. >> how do you get him out? >> we'll have to see what happens, you know, i'm not bad at doing things, if you look at what i've done. compared to what other people have done, 160 days in. there's nobody even close. i don't believe. so let's see what happens. but this was an obama disaster. and i think if i were president then he would not have taken over crimea. during the obama administration. he essentially took over crimea. i don't think he would have done that with me as president. >> i have a question for the

prime minister. if i could follow up. you have have taken on many things you say you were left with by the obama administration. that you say that you have fixed. this is something that you inherited from the obama administration. the occupation of crimea. how do you fix it? >> we're going to see what happens. it's a process. if i, if i knew i wouldn't tell you. because that would put us at a disadvantage. but we'll see what happens. we'll see how it all melds out. i want people to understand that crimea was, you know it was another bad hand. i got handed north korea, we're doing very well. you saw the letter yesterday. and we're doing very well. look. we haven't had nuclear testing, missile launches, we haven't had rocket launches. some sites were blown up and we got back our hostages, our prisoners. even before i left. so a lot of good things are happening. there's some good feeling there, we'll see what happens, it's a process, it's probably longer process than anybody would like. i'm used to long processes, too. we haven't taken off the

sanctions, the sanctions are biting, we haven't taken them off. when it comes to crimea. that's something i took over, john, there's nothing much i have to say about it. other than we will look at that just like i'm looking at many other disasters that i've taken over. i've taken over a lot of bad hands and i'm fixing them one by one. i know how to fix them. >> thank you. mr. president. >> president trump says that he made suggestions to you on what to do about brexit. could we ask you if you would make a suggestion to him on how to handle his meeting with putin? >> well i think it's very simple. we've been talking about this in fact today. which is what is important in meeting with president putin. and i've welcomed the meeting with president putin. but what is important is that the president goes into this as he is doing from a position of strength and also from a position of unity in nato. i think that is very important, obviously. we've discussed the activity of russia in many different ways, including the use of a nerve agent here on the streets of the

united kingdom and the impact that that has had. i welcomed as i said earlier, the very strong response the united states gave to that. we had response from it around the world. i think the important thing is particularly following the nato summit, the president is going into this meeting with president putin from that position of strength and a position of unity around that nato table. >> jason? >> "daily mail." prime minister, in comments yesterday your own mps sort of sided with donald trump really and said this deal that you signed here at chequers is going to be bad for trade. why can't you convince your own mps it's a good idea? you said brexit is a tough situation. what would you do now? would you walk away from the talks to show them that you mean business? >> on the issue of trade deals as i've said earlier, what we're

negotiating, and when we come out of the negotiations, i want to see and we will have our ability to have independent trade policy, to set our own tariffs, to be that independent member of the wto, to be able to negotiate trade deals around the world as we will be doing, and we're looking obviously at the united states, other areas as well. we're looking at issue likes the possibility of some trade deals around the pacific area, too. we will negotiate those trade deals. but i also want to have a good trade arrangement with the european union this isn't an either/or, we don't just replace one with the other. actually the united kingdom is looking for and can negotiate a situation where we can have a good trade relationship with the european union, a great trade relationship, good trade relationship with the united states and around the rest of the world as well. that is what will be good for jobs, good for people's livelihoods, good for prosperity here in the uk. >> if you remember i was opening turnberry the day before brexit

and we had app unbelievably large number of report tlers because everybody was there i guess because of brexit. and they all showed up on the 9th hole overlooking the ocean. and i said what's going on? and all they wanted to talk about was brexit. they asked for my opinion and i think you will agree that i think brexit will happen and it did happen and we cut the ribbon. the reason i felt it was going to happen was because of immigration, i know i think one of the reasons i got elected was because of immigration. i felt that brexit had the upper hand and most people didn't agree with me. if you remember barack obama said well, your country will have to get on the back of the line if that happens. which i thought was a terrible thing to say. frankly. but i said i thought it was going to happen. and it did happen. and i also think that as far as negotiating the deal. i probably would have done what my suggestion was to the prime minister. but you can always do that she

can do that at some point. she can do what i suggested to her. >> she can't walk away. if she walks away, that means she's stuck. you can't walk away. you can do other things. she can do what my suggestion was. and my suggestion was respectfully submitted, she will, she will do very well. think she's a very tough negotiator. i've been watching her over the last couple of days, she's a tough negotiator, she's a very, very smart and determined person. i can tell you there's a lot of people looking up now saying gegee whiz, she left a lot of people in her wake. she's a very smart, very tough, very capable person. i would much rather have her as my friend than my enemy, that i can tell you. >> jeff macen from "reuters." >> i like your hat. >> thank you, sir.

>> a good solid head of hair. >> going into your meet iing. >> take it off. >> oh boy. >> i like you better without the hat go ahead. >> going into your meeting with president putin on monday, you mentioned denuclearization and you mentioned syria. can you say exactly what your message will be to him on syria? what would you like him to say especially given assad's games in the country recently? and on denuclearization, can you spell out a little bit how you expect that to happen in terms of treaties and in terms of talks? >> it will be a slow process, we're not the only ones that have nukes. and it would be a slow process. but for the world it would be us and it would be others, we'd have to come along simultaneously. obviously. but i think that when i, when the meeting was arranged, we both wanted the meeting. when the meeting was arranged,

it was from my standpoint, i don't, i didn't go in with high expectations. but you may come out with something very exceptional. but the proliferation is a tremendous -- i mean, to me, it's the biggest problem in the world. nuclear weapons, biggest problem in the world. i understand nuclear. look up dr. john trump at m.i.t. he was my uncle, many, many years a professor. i used to talk nuclear with him. this is many years ago. it's the biggest problem, in my opinion, this world has, nuclear weapons. so, if we could do something to substantially reduce them, i mean, ideally get rid of them. maybe that's a dream. but certainly it's a subject i'll be bringing up with him. and it's also very expensive thing, but that's the least important. so, if we can do something, but i didn't go -- and i was telling the prime minister before, i didn't go in with high

expectations. we have -- we do have a political problem where -- in the united states we have this stupidity going on, pure stupidity, but it makes it very hard to do something with russia. anything you do, it's always going to be, oh, russia. he loves russia. i love the united states but i love getting along with russia and china and other countries. and it will certainly be, jeff, something we bring up and talk about. i think, to me, it's such a big problem. syria, of course, i'm going to bring that up. and i'm going to bring up ukraine. and i'm going to bring up other subjects also. >> can you spell out in terms of syria what you would like to hear from him -- >> we're going to -- i mean, that was another one. the red line in the sand was a problem for us. i think you might be in a different -- >> what would you like president putin to do you now under your watch, sir? >> i'll tell you what i'm going to do. i'm going to talk to him about that before i talk to you. and if something happens, that will be great. if it doesn't happen -- i'm not going in with high expectations, but we may come out with some

very surprising things. but relationship is very important. and having relationship with russia and other countries, as i said a number of times is -- and i've been saying, actually for years, and i've been certainly saying it during my campaign, having relationships with other countries is really a good thing. i think -- i can't really overestimate how big the meeting was yesterday with nato. we went with something that really was an unfair situation to something that's unified. i mean, they had spirit. those people were getting up and in the end, we are committing. you know, they can't go -- you know, it's not like they can go immediately back. they have to go through their parliaments and their congresses and their representatives and whoever, whatever form they have, but they have to go through an approval process. i'll tell you what, every single person in that room was gung-ho to get it in, get the money in.

even before that, $34 billion. i think the secretary-general, stalten berg, he said yesterday because of president trump, we've taken in 34 billion dollars more for nato. i think the number is higher than that, but $34 billion more. that's not what my opponent would have done. as you see what was happening over the years, the number was going down. now it's way up and way up higher. he will tell you that was because of me. >> prime minister may, the president during his time in brussels expressed concern about a pipeline between russia and germany. do you share those concerns? and to follow up on some of the questioning from my colleagues in the british press and on the american side, did you feel undermined by president trump's comments in "the sun" about your

brexit plan and about boris johnson? >> no, i'm very clear our brexit plan will deliver on what the british people voted for and we've had an excellent discussion here, as i said about, and as president trump has said, about the possibility and the intent we both have to have an ambitious trade deal going forward. i think that's exactly where we'll be going and that's very important for both of our countries. actually, we stand -- we have stood shoulder to shoulder with the united states in so many different ways over the years as a result of our special relationship and we will show that even further, through the trade arrangements we will put in place in the future. >> just to finish off -- jeff, just to finish off, i have to say, i said to the paper, "the sun," and they seemed like two very nice people, but i said theresa may is a -- one of them's nice? but i said -- >> one is sitting here. >> oh, good. where is that person? did i say nice things about

theresa may, please? if you reported them, that's good. where, on the internet? i said very good things. thank you for saying that. no, i said very good things about her. they didn't put it in the headline. i wish they would have put that in the headline. and she's a total professional. when i saw her this morning, i said, i want to apologize because i said such good things about you. she said, don't worry, it's only the press. i thought that was very professional. i might add, though -- >> you recognize -- >> don't worry. they've been doing it to me and i do it to them. you asked about the pipeline. to me, it is a tragedy. i think it's a horrific thing that's being done where you're feeding billions and billions of dollars from germany primarily, and other countries, but primarily from germany into the coffers of russia when we're

trying to do something so that we have peace in the world. i think it's a horrible thing that germany's doing. i think it's a horrible mistake. and as much as i like angela, i was very open in saying it. i think it's a horrible thing that you have a pipeline coming from russia and i believe germany's going to be getting 50, 60, even i've heard numbers of 70% of their energy coming in from russia. and how can you be working for peace and working from strength when somebody has that kind of power over your country? you've given up all your strength. i think it's bad for germany, bad for the german people and bad for nato, if you want to know the truth. >> we've just -- just -- we said we would take four questions each. we've taken four questions each. just on the pipeline issue, we've been talking to the germans about this, we've been talking to other countries within the european union about

this. while we continue to sit around the eu table, this is something that will be discussed at the european union table, and obviously we'll mail-i make our views known there. mr. president, thank you. >> can you share your views with us? your position on -- >> we have been discussing this with germany. the president has made clear his concerns about what is happening. angela merkel made her position clear. within the european union, there were discussions to be held on this issue of north stream two. we're talking to other countries within the european union. and i think the president said in response to an earlier question about a future meeting he was going to have, that he would tell you what was happening after that meeting. you'll see what comes out from the european union. we are still part of the eu until march 2019, and then we're leaving. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> will you tell putin to stay

out of u.s. elections? >> yes. >> thank you. president trump wraps up his trip to britain today and will spend the weekend golfing in scotland. on monday he has a stop in helsinki, finland, to meet with russian president vladimir putin. the two expect to meet privately with just translators present and have a working lunch. watch for updates on the u.s./russian summit and follow it all on c-span.org. tonight we'll bring you a forum to eradicate polio. speaker includes mitch mcconnell who was treated for it as a child. you can see it tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern.

this weekend on american history tv on c-span3, saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures in history, university of connecticut professor sichlt. nha on the reconstruction era after the civil war. at 10:00 on reel america, the 1918 silent french film dedicated to america's efforts in world war i. sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern, the national world war ii museum symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the film "saving private ryan." then on american artifacts at 6:00 p.m., the u.s. army heritage and education center annual living history event featuring french world war i soldiers. watch american history tv this weekend on c-span3. at 11:45 eastern this

morning, we'll take you live to the justice department for a briefing with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. in the meantime, a discussion on strategies to advance the agenda of the democratic party and to elect party candidates leading up to the 2018 and 2020 elections. in this 45-minute portion, they'll talk about health care with house members barra of california and custer of new hampshire and kurt schrader of oregon. >> we're just waiting on one more. i want to say, thank you, everyone. it's like 3:00 p.m. in the day and it's been a long day and everyone's tired. i was going to get up here and do some breathing and yoga exercises to raise the energy but i thought that might not be good for our perceptional coa coastcoas coastal elitists.