US President Donald Trump’s administration this week is to begin laying groundwork for a trade deal between the US and the UK that would take effect after Britain leaves the EU, a White House aide said.
British Prime Minister Theresa May last week said that she would move to cleanly separate her country’s economy from Europe’s and enact immigration controls before negotiating new trade deals with the continent and other countries, an approach deemed a “hard Brexit.”
Trump officials believe their talks with the British government encouraged May to be more aggressive in exiting the union.
Two of Trump’s senior advisers, Steve Bannon and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with UK Secretary of Foreign Affairs Boris Johnson in New York on Jan. 8. The three are preparing for the future pact, the aide said, requesting anonymity because the discussions are not public.
Bannon, US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and other administration officials have also met with British defense and intelligence leaders, the aide said.
The British embassy in Washington had no immediate comment.
May and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will make visits to the US this month to meet with Trump, White House officials said.
May is to meet with Trump on Friday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee said on Saturday.
Pena Nieto is to meet with Trump on Tuesday next week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
Neither provided further details on the meetings.
Trade, immigration and Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall on the southern US border loom large in the president’s relations with Mexico.
Brexit, the campaign against Islamic State terrorism, the Syrian civil war and sanctions against Russia are key issues in relations between the Trump administration and the UK.
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