President Donald Trump said the Queen was ‘beautiful’ inside and out after meeting the 92-year-old monarch at Windsor Castle.
Mr Trump and first lady Melania were due to spend half an hour with the Queen on Thursday but stayed longer than expected after their afternoon tea overran by 20 minutes.
Following the meeting, MailOnline’s Piers Morgan boarded Air Force One at Stansted Airport to speak with the President and quizzed him on his meeting with the Queen, relations with the UK after Brexit, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Morgan quoted Mr Trump as saying: ‘The Queen is fantastic.
Following the meeting, MailOnline’s Piers Morgan boarded Air Force One at Stansted Airport
‘She’s a fantastic woman, so much energy and smart and sharp. She was amazing. Such a wonderful lady and so beautiful. It was such an honour to finally meet her.’
Speaking to Morgan in an interview which will air on Good Morning Britain on Monday, he said: ‘When I say beautiful, inside and out, that is a beautiful woman.’
During the Queen’s 66-year reign there have been 13 U.S. Presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Mr Trump, and she has now met all of them except Lyndon B. Johnson.
Mr Trump said his mother, Mary Anne Trump, who died in 2000 at the age of 88, was a ‘tremendous fan’ of the Queen.
He said: ‘I was walking up and I was saying [to Melania]: Can you imagine my mother seeing this scene? Windsor. Windsor Castle. And it was beautiful, it was really beautiful but the Queen is terrific.
‘She is so sharp, so wise, so beautiful. Up close, you see she’s so beautiful. She’s a very special person.
‘And the way she’s conducted herself for so many years. And she’s got a lot of years left.
‘To have that meeting I think was really great. We met, but also watching the guard, hearing the sounds, being in that place, that very special place. it was very special there’s no question about that.’
President Donald Trump said the Queen was ‘beautiful’ after meeting the 92-year-old monarch
Mr Trump spoke to Piers Morgan on Air Force One after meeting the Queen at Windsor Castle
Morgan asked if the Queen had discussed Brexit with the President.
Trump said: ‘I did. She said it’s a very – and she’s right – it’s a very complex problem, I think nobody had any idea how complex that was going to be.
‘Everyone thought it was going to be, oh it’s simple, we join or don’t join, or let’s see what happens.’
Speaking about a trade deal, Mr Trump said: ‘I think we’re going to have a great trade deal, I’ve really no doubt about it. We’re going to get it.
‘I said [to Theresa May], make sure you have a carve out, you have to have a carve out, where no matter what happens they have the right to make a deal with the United States.’
‘I think no matter what happens, they’re going to have carve outs and they’re going to make a deal with us.
Piers Morgan aboard Air Force One at Stansted Airport in Essex with President Donald Trump
Piers prepares to descend the steps of Air Force One following his interview with Mr Trump
‘I’m saying that now so that when I go into negotiations with you people, I’m going to try and top you, you’re going to try and top us.
‘The main thing is they have to have the right to do it so that’s the only thing I told [the PM] you have to have the right to do it. You can’t be shut out because we’re much bigger than the European Union, we’re more important from that standpoint.’
At a press conference during his UK visit Trump said he feared for damage to Europe’s ‘culture’ from mass immigration.
He elaborated on this with Morgan, saying: ‘Brexit was going to happen for a specific reason: immigration.
‘I think the people of the UK want to have who they want in their country, and I think what’s happening all over Europe is very sad.’
As he left Scotland on his way to a summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Mr Trump described the EU as a ‘foe’.
He said: ‘I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union but they’re a foe.’
Morgan’s interview with Mr Trump airs on ITV’s Good Morning Britain at 6am BST on Monday.