Donald Trump Jr. Criticizes U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May For Not Taking His Father’s Brexit Advice
On Monday, Donald Trump Jr. criticized the U.K. — and specifically Prime Minister Theresa May — for not taking his father’s advice on Brexit, CNBC is reporting.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump’s oldest son published a guest editorial in The Daily Telegraph in which he chided the United Kingdom for not having completed the “Brexit” process by this time. “Brexit” is a portmanteau of the words “Britain” and “exit,” and refers to the process of the U.K. leaving the European Union. U.K. voters voted to leave the EU in 2016, and May’s government has been working for the past few months to get the process completed. However, May and her government have so far failed to come up with a plan that works for everyone.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Trump Jr. opined that everything would have gone much more smoothly if the U.K. had taken his father’s advice.
“Mrs. May ignored advice from my father, and ultimately, a process that should have taken only a few short months has become a years-long stalemate, leaving the British people in limbo.”
What, specifically, was that advice? That’s not clear from Trump Jr.’s op-ed. However, as NPR reports, May was asked last year about Trump’s advice to her on Brexit.
“He told me I should sue the EU. Not go into negotiations; sue them.”
What should Theresa May write in her letter to the EU? pic.twitter.com/TGrDkUrpRV
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) March 20, 2019
Deeper in his editorial, Trump Jr. treated Brexit, and the U.K.’s failure to complete it, as a sort of metaphor for the state of the U.S. ally in general.
“Democracy in the U.K. is all but dead.”
Elsewhere, he equated his father’s election to Brexit, saying that both votes were representative of the people of their respective countries sending a message.
“The battle for independence isn’t over; it has only just begun. The elites will not surrender their power lightly, and we shouldn’t expect them to. But we need to keep fighting to reclaim it for the people.”
Trump Jr.’s advice and criticism have not been well-received by everyone in Britain. For example, Justin King, vice chairman and senior adviser at investment group Terra Firma, told CNBC that neither Trump Jr. nor his father have any room to talk about other countries’ governance.
“For the president of America to make assertions about the inability of government to get things done, when he’s been through the process that they’ve been [through] of shutting down their government for the longest period ever in history in the last three months, is a laugh out loud moment.”
Meanwhile, in the latest Brexit news, May said this week that the U.K. will have completed the Brexit process by no later than June, as BBC News reports.
