Trump: Brexit could be a 'very good thing' for Britain and the EU

Donald Trump has praised the European Union for “getting its act together” after Britain triggered Article 50, adding Brexit could be a “very good thing” for both parties.

The US president, whose approval ratings slumped to a new low in the wake of his healthcare reform calamity, has boasted that he “predicted Brexit”, and enthusiastically supported the Leave vote.

The businessman-turned-politician, who has struck up a friendship with Nigel Farage, has previously claimed that Brexit is “gonna be the end of the EU.”

However, he struck a more conciliatory tone about the future of the bloc when he claimed the 27 other members were “getting their act together”.

He said it had become less likely that other countries would follow the UK’s example.

In an interview with the Financial Times, he said: “I think Brexit is very good for the UK, it is going to be very good for UK.

“I would have thought when it happened that more would follow, but I really think the European Union is getting their act together. It could be a very good thing for both.”

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He added: “If you would have asked me that the day after the election… I would have said, ‘Yeah, it will start to come apart’. But they have done a very good job and — I am meeting with them very soon — they have done a very good job in bringing it back together.”

Mr Trump, who frequently criticised Angela Merkel during the 2016 presidential campaign, said he had a “great” meeting with her, despite appearing to refuse to shake her hand.

Mr Trump said: “I had a great meeting with her, I really liked her. She said the same thing to me.”

“I think [the EU has] done a better job since Brexit. I think they have done a better job,” Trump added.

There is a “different spirit” that was not there “when they were fighting with the UK”.

He added: “I actually think it is going to be a great deal for UK, and I think it is going to be really, really good also for the European Union.”

The president used the interview to warn that he was prepared to take unilateral action to eliminate the nuclear threat from North Korea unless China increases pressure on the regime in Pyongyang.

He said: “Well, if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you.”