BRITAIN/EU/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump on Friday [7-13-18] tried to repair the diplomatic damage he caused with an explosive interview blasting his host, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain, by praising her leadership and calling their two countries’ relationship ‘the highest level of special,’ even as he continued to publicly question her decisions. During a news conference at Chequers, the prime minister’s 16th-century official country residence, Mr. Trump was by turns defiant, fawning and dismissive about the interview. He first tried to deny he had criticized the prime minister and blamed the embarrassing episode on the news media. When that rang hollow, he then tried to compensate by lavishing Mrs. May with compliments and, in the end, claimed that the slights were so insignificant that she had waved off his attempts at an apology. The contortions followed a report in The Sun newspaper late Thursday [7-12-18] night that quoted him criticizing Mrs. May’s approach to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, the process known as Brexit. He said her business-friendly plan would leave Britain closely tied to the bloc, ultimately killing the prospect of a trade deal between the United States and Britain. He then proceeded to praise perhaps her most prominent rival, Boris Johnson, who resigned as foreign secretary last week in protest over her Brexit plan.”
-Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Stephen Castle, “Trump, on His Best Behavior, Heaps Praise on May as ‘Tough’ and ‘Capable’,” The New York Times online, July 13, 2018