Washington, D.C. – U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump told a press conference today that he thinks Britain will vote to leave the European Union (EU) at the country’s EU referendum on June 23rd this year.
Speaking at the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue – currently being converted into a Trump Hotel – Mr. Trump was asked if he believed that Britain would and should leave the European Union.
He replied: “I think that I don’t want to make a comment about the UK or anything, but I think they may leave based on everything.
“I’m there a lot. I have a lot of investments in the UK and I will tell you that I think it may leave based on everything I’m hearing”.
Pressed on whether he thought British people should vote to leave, he responded: “I don’t know you’d have to ask them, I just think they may leave.”
His hands off approach to the issue is at stark contrast with U.S. President Barack Obama, who is set to give a speech urging Britons to stay in the EU next month.
President Obama has come under fire in recent weeks by Eurosceptic Members of Parliament in Britain who have warned him that any intervention in British affairs may well backfire and harm the UK-U.S. relationship.
Last week, six Eurosceptic MPs and MEPs wrote to President Obama urging him to stay out of the debate. Their letter was followed up with correspondence from over 100 more Members of Parliament.
A petition to stop President Obama intervening has now received nearly 27,000 signatures.
Mr. Trump was speaking at the Old Post Office just ahead of his speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington, D.C.
He is set to speak later today, following a speech by Democrat Party frontrunner Hillary Clinton, where she repeatedly attacked Mr. Trump, and even criticised the European Union for its soft-touch approach to terrorist group Hezbollah.