Alex Salmond: Theresa May looks desperate for US trade deal

Alex Salmond criticised Theresa May for meeting Donald Trump after he declared his support for torture. Picture: John Devlin/TSPL

Alex Salmond believes Theresa May has put herself in 'an extraordinary, difficult, awkward position' by agreeing to the meet the US president after he 'declared his support for torture'.

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The Former First Minister was asked how appropriate it was for the Prime Minister to gift Donald Trump a quaich - a ceremonial Scottish cup often used to drink drams of whisky - after he used his first TV interview as president to say he believes torture “absolutely” works and that the US should “fight fire with fire.”

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Mr Salmond told the BBC that Mrs May has “given the impression of being so desperate to have a trade deal because of the weakness of her position” over the EU.

He added: “You should never go into a negotiation of any kind with Donald Trump from a weak negotiating position, because if you do he will take you to the cleaners - and appealing to his better nature is a futile attempt.”

The ex-SNP leader said the notion that the PM would change Mr Trump’s nature was “fantastic”.

He said the UK has good terms of trade with the US and the last thing it needs to do is change these into better terms for the US.