President Barack Obama has ducked a question on the future state of US-UK trade, suggesting the UK has more important priorities as it negotiates its exit from the European Union.
“Frankly, we will be the least of their problems right now,” he said at a press conference alongside the Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto and the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“Europe is their first priority, where they trade half their goods,” said Mr Obama. “I emphasized throughout that the special relationship with Great Britain does not change.”
Before the UK public voted to leave the union on 23 June, they had been warned by the president that trade with the US would move “to the back of the queue”.
His comments were criticized by both former London mayor and Leave campaigner Boris Johnson and Republican Donald Trump.
Mr Obama said at the press conference this week that the Brexit vote “does not help” global growth rates which “were already low”.
After prime minister David Cameron said he will step down by October and Labour politicians passed a vote of “no confidence” in their leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Obama stressed that “leadership issues need to be resolved” for the negotiations process with the EU to move efficiently.
The UK has yet to trigger Article 50, signaling their formal intention to leave the European Union, a move that close to 52 per cent of the UK population voted for. Many countries in the EU have refused to even hold informal talks with Mr Cameron until that Article has been put in place.
“My main message to Cameron, [German chancellor Angela] Merkel and others is that everybody should catch their breath, come up with a plan and a process that’s orderly, transparent and that people understand, and then proceed with the understanding that both sides have a stake in getting this right,” he said.
“And I think that will be a difficult, challenging process but it does not need to be a panicky process."
Mr Obama added that he had spoken to Ms Merkel about the UK leaving the union.
“Her interest is not in retribution. Her interest is […] in making the process work."
He said he had confidence in his European counterparts to come up with an exit plan and added that the US “will help in any way we can”.
