Trump: US Committed To 'Phenomenal Trade Deal' With Britain

President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States is committed to a “phenomenal trade deal” with the United Kingdom once it leaves the European Union and suggested the two countries could double or triple the trade between them.

Speaking at a joint news conference in London with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump noted the two nations have $1 trillion invested in each other — and that the U.K. is the largest foreign investor in the United States and the largest European export market for the U.S. 

“That’s a lot of importance,” Trump said. “As the U.K. makes preparations to exit the European Union, the United States is committed to a phenomenal trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K. There is tremendous potential in that trade deal, I say, probably two and even three times of what we’re doing right now.”

LIVE: President @realDonaldTrump Holds a Press Conference with Prime Minister @theresa_may https://t.co/wCklInmnGF

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 4, 2019

Trump is on a three-day state visit that also included a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and is scheduled to include a ceremony in Portsmouth, on England’s southern coast, to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Europe during World War II.

Trump's visit has been controversial, sparking protests and including snubs by the president of some British officials; he called London Mayor Sadiq Khan a "stone cold loser."

Trump also sparked ruffled feathers with an answer to a reporter's question in which he said that, in talks about a U.S-U.K. trade deal, everything would be on the table — including Britain's National Health Service.

British opposition party leader Jeremy Corbyn and others have expressed concerns about whether American health care firms should be able to "take over" some of the health services provided by the NHS. 

While there were protests in London targeting the president's visit, Trump called them mostly “fake news,” asserting that reports of protests weren’t true or overplayed the size of the demonstrations. He said he mostly saw supporters on his ride around London. “It was tremendous spirit,” Trump said of the people he saw on the streets.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was trading higher by 1.6 percent at the time of publication Tuesday, while the iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index EWU was up by 0.91 percent. 

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President Donald Trump meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May Tuesday at No. 10 Downing Street. White House photo by Shealah Craighead.