British Prime Minister Theresa May praised President Trump’s decision to keep up the United States’ commitments to NATO after a campaign in which he seemed ready to pull back from the organization.
“I know a number of people were concerned before he became president about his statements about America’s commitment to NATO. NATO has been the bedrock of Europe security,” May told ABC’s “This Week.” “I was very pleased when I came over to see him, shortly after his inauguration, that he gave an absolute 100 percent commitment to NATO. America continues to stand by us in — in supporting that security and ensuring that security of Europe.”
May said Trump has been a difficult partner in some ways — she called his comments following Friday’s terror attack in London not “helpful” and was critical of his decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which reports indicate he may be rethinking — but said overall the two leaders get along.
That helps the so-called “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom continue, she said.
“I think the point about the special relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. is that when we do disagree we’re able to say so,” she said. “And pretty bluntly.”
In the wake of the bombing on the London Underground that injured dozens, May said she plans on looking at giving her police and intelligence officials more powers in surveillance to fight terrorism.
While the police’s powers have been expanded during her time in office, May said the next steps need to be taken online.
“One of the issues that we really need to be addressing, and I’ll be raising this when I’m at the United Nations, is the question of the use of the Internet by terrorists for terrorist planning,” she said. “But also this, for using it for the spread of extremism, of hatred, of propaganda that can incite and can inspire terrorism.”
