Post-Brexit trade deal at risk if Donald Trump is not invited to Royal wedding, says Fire and Fury author
Donald Trump could sabotage a post-Brexit transatlantic trade deal with the UK if he is not invited to Prince Harry's wedding, according to the author whose explosive book on the American president has roiled US politics.
Michael Wolff says Mr Trump will only respect the Special Relationship if he “gets what he wants”.
The warning comes from a journalist whose book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" is drawn from what he said was regular access to the West Wing and more than 200 interviews, including some three hours with Mr Trump himself.
The result is portrait of a chaotic administration and a president whose closest advisers question his fitness for office, provoking a furious reaction from the White House.
It was already thought unlikely that Mr Trump would be invited to the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Wolff said the president would react badly if he was not on the exclusive guest list.
“He doesn't like being snubbed and wants to be the centre of attention all the time,” he said. “Trump's foreign policy doctrine is simple: you Brits suck up to him and enlist in whatever geopolitical fantasy he has going, he'll give you what you want – though only if it doesn't hurt him.
"It is not so much vengeance, rather, 'you flatter me and I'll flatter you.'”
He also said he expected Mr Trump to abuse the honour of a state visit.
Fire and Fury | Best lines from Michael Wolff's book
“He sees the Queen in reality TV show terms. That's the Trump modus operandi. He will try to Trumpalise the Queen and Buckingham Palace,” he said.
Mr Trump has accepted an invitation for a state visit, according to Downing Street, although political tensions mean no schedule has been announced.
Mr Wolff also claims Mr Trump was so ignorant of the UK that he did not know what Brexit was only two weeks before the 2016 referendum.
The US is the biggest export market for the UK outside the EU, and a transatlantic trade deal is crucial to the British economy.
Publication of Mr Wolff’s sensational account of Mr Trump’s first year in office was pushed brought forward after excerpts ignited a political storm.
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