Donald Trump’s views on Britain show him up for the narcissist he is | Jonathan Freedland | Opinion

Donald Trump’s views on Britain show him up for the narcissist he is | Jonathan Freedland | Opinion

There is, inevitably, much to feast on in the full transcript of the Wall Street Journal’s interview with Donald Trump, which that paper did not want published but which was leaked to Politico and is now available for all to see.

There’s a media story to tell, obviously. The leaker is presumed to be a Journal insider frustrated by the paper’s stance on Trump, which many at the WSJ fear is too cosy. They will not be reassured by some of the chummy chatter that passes between the Journal’s editor Gerard Baker, Trump and the presidential daughter, Ivanka. It’s all golf, parties in the Hamptons and the shared bond between Baker and Ivanka, who both have daughters named Arabella.

But naturally it is Trump himself who is the main event. There are, of course, the predictable multiple falsehoods. Eleven just in the extracts the Journal published, and even more in the full transcript, according to one reliable scrutineer of Trump’s dishonesty. Most egregious is his claim that his horrendously inappropriate speech to last week’s jamboree of Boy Scouts â€" in which he spoke to children as if addressing a gathering of fellow New York billionaires â€" was universally acclaimed.

Trump takes great offence when one of his Journal interviewers says the speech’s reception was mixed. “There was no mix,” Trump says four or five times. On the contrary, he says, “I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful.” In fact, the Boy Scouts later apologised for the speech â€" and last night denied that they had made any such call to the White House.

There are other inadvertently revealing moments. He refers to his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the man he’s charged with solving America’s opioid crisis, restructuring the US government and bringing peace to the Middle East, as a “good boy”. At one point, he appears to vindicate those who believe he’s running a reality TV presidency, one whose chief objectives are ratings and drama. Speaking of his day ahead, he says: “And we have the head of Lebanon coming in; that’ll be interesting, a little â€" a little change of pace. We keep it interesting.”

But for British observers, it’s his responses to questions about a future, post-Brexit UK-US trade deal that will be seized on. Trump notes the confusing number of names for the country. The US ambassador is “the ambassador to the Court of St. James, which is England, you know, et cetera, et cetera,” he says. Later he muses, “I can say that we’re going to be very involved with the UK. I mean, you don’t hear the word Britain anymore. It’s very interesting. It’s like, nope.”

It’s not easy to disentangle what’s going on here, but Trump seems to be lamenting that political correctness compels him to say “UK”, which includes Northern Ireland, rather than “Britain”. Perhaps he thinks UK is equivalent to “Happy Holidays”, when he prefers “Merry Christmas” (a pet grievance of Trump’s).

Brexiteers will put all that aside and accentuate the positive. “We are absolutely looking to do a major trade deal,” Trump tells the Journal. It’ll be big, he says, “much, much more business than we do now”.

But there are two fat flies in that particular ointment. First, Trump is noticeably non-committal on the timing. Rather than promise a speedy post-Brexit agreement, he says the deal will be done “as soon as it’s appropriate to have it kick in.” That could be a very long wait, possibly until the EU has completed its own free trade arrangement with the US. Second, Trump is too inconsistent on this and most other topics to take his words seriously. Over the past few months, he has sent both warm and cool signals on a post-Brexit deal. One minute we’re at the front of the queue, then we’re at the back again.

It means that perhaps the most relevant bit of the exchange comes when Trump discusses Scotland, asking Baker if the country is likely to vote for independence. “It would be terrible” if they did, he says â€" thereby boosting support for yes by a couple of percentage points and giving the SNP its best news in months. And why would Scottish independence be so bad? The answer for the man who owns golf courses all around the world, including in Scotland, is obvious. “What would they do with the British Open if they ever got out? They’d no longer have the British Open.”

This, remember, is the man whose view of the EU was formed by his irritation at the way EU rules impeded his plans to develop a golf course in Ireland. This is what all those Brexiteers need to remember, as they contemplate a future dependent on the goodwill of Donald Trump. Trump doesn’t care about Britain or anywhere else. He only ever cares about himself.

• Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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