President elect Donald Trump has labelled the United Kingdom as "smart" for voting to the leave the European Union. In an interview with former Conservative leadership contender Michael Gove, Trump, who was recently accused by BuzzFeed as having ties with Russia, stated that the European Union was dominated by Germany, a country that he believes is on the brink of economic collapse.
Forging a bond with the U.K.
In the interview, Trump promised to ensure that the United Kingdom and the United States continued to share a "special relationship" following last year's referendum.
Trump said: "You look at the European Union and it's basically Germany. Germany creates all the rules and dictates the terms for everyone else. I thought that the U.K was so smart to get out of it".
Trump said that he was keen to meet prime minster Theresa May after his inauguration, which will take place this Friday. Trump stated that he will be meeting May in the near future, claiming that "May sent me a personal letter requesting a meeting and I will meet her once I get into the White House. We're going to get a deal done quickly".
More to come
Further, Donald Trump discussed his fondness for the United Kingdom, urging other countries to follow the U.K and leave the European Union. "I believe that other countries will leave the EU soon.
I think that keeping the EU together is going to be a lot harder than people think. People and countries want their own unique identity and that's why the United Kingdom elected to leave the EU," Trump said.
In somewhat of a startling claim, Trump blame German chancellor Angela Merkel for jeopardising the stability of Europe by allowing refugees from the Middle East to enter Germany.
"If Germany didn't take in all those illegal immigrants I don't think that Brexit would have ever occurred," Trump said.
Trump's comments are a sharp contrast to his predecessors who sought to establish a strong relationship with Europe and the European Union. The president elect's comments suggest that it may be difficult for European countries to do business with him.
