Brexit was ‘sloppy but it's being straightened out', says Trump
But the US president said Brexit was now 'getting straightened out' before going on to praise Sir Keir Starmer in an interview with the BBC over the phone from the Oval Office.
Mr Trump backed the Leave campaign during the European Union referendum in 2016, saying the UK would be 'better off without' the EU.
Asked by the BBC if he believed the UK had made the most of Brexit, Mr Trump replied: 'No, I think it has been on the sloppy side, but I think it is getting straightened out.'
The president also spoke about his relationship with Britain and Sir Keir Starmer.
He said it was a 'great place - you know I own property there' and praised Sir Keir, saying: 'I really like the Prime Minister a lot, even though he's a liberal.
' He did a good trade deal with us, which a lot of other countries didn't do.'
'King Charles is a great gentleman'
In September, the president will make an unprecedented second state visit to the UK, where he will be hosted by the King at Windsor Castle.
However, Mr Trump will not address MPs – a courtesy afforded to Emmanuel Macron as well as some of Mr Trump's predecessors, including Barack Obama – because the Commons will not be sitting at the time of his visit.
In the interview with Gary O'Donoghue, the BBC's chief North America correspondent, Mr Trump brushed away calls made by ally Nigel Farage to recall Parliament so he can speak to MPs. 'Let them go and have a good time. I don't want that,' he said.
Mr Trump will be accompanied by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, for the trip, which is set to take place from Sept 17 to 19, and will be hosted at Windsor Castle.
He said: 'I want to have a good time and respect King Charles because he's a great gentleman.'
Warning shot at Putin
Mr Trump's public attitude towards Putin has fluctuated during negotiations to end the three-year-long war in Ukraine.
At times, since the start of his second term, he has been accused of taking a more sympathetic view of the Russian president.
This included blaming Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's leader, for starting the war, despite Russia invading Ukraine first in 2014 and then launching a full-scale invasion in 2022.
As Putin continues to refuse a peace deal, however, their relationship appears to have soured.
During his election campaign, Mr Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours of entering office.
Mr Trump's tariff comments on Monday represented his most concrete threat to Putin, and in the BBC interview, he doubled down on his criticism.
'I'm disappointed in him. I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed in him.
'You have a deal done four times and then you go home and you see he just attacked a nursing home in Kyiv. What the hell was that all about?'
Asked if he trusted Putin, he paused for several seconds before replying: 'I trust almost nobody.'
Nato no longer 'obsolete'
The president has been a firm critic of Nato and has put considerable pressure on members to spend more on defence.
But the relationship has improved since a Nato summit last month at which Secretary-General Rutte carried out a successful charm offensive, which involved calling the US president 'daddy'.
In a meeting with Mr Rutte in the Oval Office on Monday, the president promised to send billions of dollars of military equipment to Ukraine in a deal paid for by other Nato countries.
He said the weapons would be 'top of the line' but did not specify what they would be. Sources said long-range missiles may be part of the package.
He told the BBC he no longer believed Nato was 'obsolete', claiming the alliance 'is now becoming the opposite of that, as it was 'paying their own bills'.
'I don't like to dwell on assassination attempt'
The BBC interview was intended to mark the first anniversary of the assassination attempt against the president at an election campaign rally in 2024.
Speaking about the shooting at the July 13 rally, he said: 'I don't like to think about if it did change me', as dwelling on it 'could be life-changing'.
He said it 'happened very quickly' and that his only conscious thought was to 'let the people know' that he was ok.
One attendee of the July 13 rally was killed and two others were injured in the shooting by gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was subsequently shot to death by Secret Service agents.
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