Hello and welcome to the Spectator's Americano podcast, a series of discussions about American

politics and the Trump presidency in 2017. I'm Freddie Gray and I'm Deputy Editor of the

Spectator and today we're going to be doing an excerpt from the Spectator's main podcast.

I'm joined by the Spectator's Deputy Editor Freddie Gray and the BBC's Paul Wood,

who are currently both in Washington and by Kate Andrews, a Republican commentator here in London.

So, Freddie, does Trump understand the EU or Brexit, or his attitudes towards him just dictated

by a kind of brash ignorance?

I don't know. I think I've given up speculating on the inner workings of Trump's mind.

I think they're one of the great mysteries of our time. I think what's certain is he has an

instinctive dislike of the EU. It stems largely from the fact that EU red tape stopped him

from developing his golf course at

Dumbag in Ireland. And I think he has an instinctive sense that Brexit is a bit like a sort of

British version of Braveheart, a wild populist act that is very much in tune with him. He thinks

that Brexit was the sort of er dove for the main course, which is Donald Trump.

And why has there been this special relationship historically?

Kate, as an American in the UK, what is it about the two nations as it's so harmonious?

Well, I think that the wartimes that they've experienced together have obviously created that very deep bond,

but also similarities in terms of culture, in terms of

values, in terms of respect for human rights, and really being at the forefront of democracy

over hundreds and hundreds of years, these two countries have a lot in common and a lot that

they want to stick up for. I know there have been a lot of accusations against President Obama

for not respecting the special relationship in the same way that previous presidents have.

...