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The US has long voiced suspicions that Huawei is controlled by the Chinese government and thus a global security threat — charges strongly denied by the firm and by Beijing. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has insisted a decision has not yet been made on Huawei’s involvement in building a 5G network in Britain. Trump said he believed “things will all work out, you’ll see”.
In a wide-ranging interview, the president also repeated previous criticism of May’s strategy for taking Britain out of the European Union. She is due to step down in the coming weeks over her failure to deliver Brexit on time. Trump suggested her as-yet unchosen successor should abandon talks with the bloc if they do not get a better deal. “I would walk away. If you don’t get the deal you want, if you don’t get a fair deal, then you walk away,” he said. Trump on Friday used another newspaper interview to endorse former foreign minister Boris Johnson to succeed May.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is boycotting a state banquet with Trump, called it an “entirely unacceptable interference in our country’s democracy”. On Saturday, the president suggested another leading Brexit supporter, Nigel Farage, should help negotiate with Brussels. He said that Farage, whose Brexit party caused a major upset in recent European elections, “has a lot to offer”.
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Writing in The Observer newspaper, Khan — who has had several Twitter spats with Trump — said the president was “one of the most egregious examples” of a growing global threat from the far-right. He said leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Farage “are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century to garner support, but are using new sinister methods to deliver their message”. Khan said Trump’s “divisive behaviour flies in the face of the ideals America was founded upon — equality, liberty and religious freedom”.