President Donald Trump said early Thursday he is to sign a trade deal with Britain that will be America’s first since he announced sweeping global tariffs that hammered markets and threaten to upend the global economy.
In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote: “This should be a very big and exciting day for the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Press Conference at The Oval Office, 10A.M. Thank you!”
Trump has repeatedly suggested that foreign nations are eager to ink a deal with Washington to avoid the worst effects of the wave of levies he announced last month, but this would be the first such deal. Only four countries import more U.S. goods than the U.K, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Trump wrote on Truth Social early Thursday of a “Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!”
The New York Times was the first to report Wednesday that Trump planned to announce a deal with Britain, citing three people familiar with the deal.
The deal would be a boost for Trump, who said nations were “dying to make a deal” in the wake of his tariffs announcement on April 2, which he called “liberation day.”
Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro then said there could be “90 deals in 90 days” — but 36 days on there have been none, while countries across the world complained that the tariffs were unfair and uncalled for, most notably China, and as Trump seeks to calm fears over price rises at home.
The U.K. government said in a statement early Thursday that it was in talks with Washington over a potential deal, but would not confirm the signing, instead saying that Prime Minister Keir Starmer would have an update later. Britain’s Department of Business and Trade said in a statement it would not comment on “speculation.”
“The United States is an indispensable ally for both our economic and national security. Talks on a deal between our countries have been continuing at pace and the Prime Minister will update later today,” said a spokesperson for Number 10, the prime minister’s private office and official residence.
During a swearing-in ceremony for his Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff on Wednesday, Trump said the United Kingdom wants “to make a deal very badly.”
“I think that United Kingdom, like every other country, they want to, they want to go shopping in the United States of America,” Trump said during the Oval Office event.
The deal will mark the first deal publicly announced by Trump since he enacted — and then paused — new tariffs on dozens of countries.
