To think Obama's threat is toothless?

[Villagebike3]

Obama is on his last term. The next US president may well be Trump, who has advised the UK to leave the EU. Soooooo, what Obama says is not all that much of a threat.

[DoingTheBestICan]

Agree, he has come across as interfering.

[TheSolitaryWanderer]

Trump will be president, and he won't want to talk to foreign people speaking foreign.
So he'll deal with the UK, Canada, Australia and one or two places in between if he has to.
Once he's finished building The Wall.

[OTheHugeManatee]

Not just toothless, but ignorant, arrogant and hypocritical too.

[Catfartstink]

He's really pissed me off completely irrationally
Like he's been paracuted in to sort us stupid Brits out.
As for not wanting to trade again, don't you want to sell your stuff here?

[JassyRadlett]

Obama is on his last term. The next US president may well be Trump, who has advised the UK to leave the EU. Soooooo, what Obama says is not all that much of a threat.

And it may be Clinton who agrees with Obama.

Prioritising multilateral over bilateral trade deals isn't exactly unique to Obama or even the US. In the long run it's a much more logical and sensible approach for any country that wants reduction in trade barriers with a wide range of countries, as it makes regulation and trade rules much simpler for its businesses.

[ToucheShay]

He just comes across as supporting what DC wants, rather than his opinion.

Its the 'Special Relationship'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Creatureofthenight]

I didn't take it as a threat but as a realistic statement of what could happen.
If Trump thinks we should leave the EU, well, that's a good enough reason to vote to stay in!

[travailtotravel]

I thought it was perfectly rational thing to say and fair warning. Why on earth we think we're so special to merit immediate attention by thr est of the world is beyond me. Also why we think that we'll be exempt from rules and able to !make up our own to suit. We are not an empire anymore.

[MimiLaBonq1]

It's not toothless it is realistic. The Brexit campaigners saying we can set up trade agreements just like that are foolish and arrogant. Trade agreements take years to put in place. Getting trade agreements that will actually benefit us being such a small negotiating partner compared to being part of the EU will be nign on impossible. We might be a big economy now but we won't be after Brexit.

And if Trump wins then trade agreements will be the very least of the world's troubles anyway. but even so he will do what is best for the US (probably set up a trade agreement with us whereby all the terms benefit the US only.)

[SetPhasersTaeMalkie]

I didn't take it as a threat either.

He was asked a question and answered.

Seemed like an honest answer. The US would not prioritise negotiating a trade deal with the UK.

[Squeegle]

Hmmm..tricky.... Obama's advice verses Trump's? Don't know about the rest of you, but I know which one I'd go with....

[AugustaFinkNottle]

I don't read it as a threat. How can it be? Even if we were to leave the EU, he will be long out of office by the time it became reality, and obviously he is perfectly well aware of that. The fact that he's in his last term means he has no need to make threats because he has no agenda - which lends his words more weight, if anything. He is simply speaking as a hugely experienced and knowledgeable world leader giving advice as to what will happen. And he is, of course, absolutely right.

It's interesting that pro-exit people feel the need to attack what he says by mischaracterising it in this way. It does rather indicate that they don't have any real facts and arguments to counter what he says.

[SpareCrust]

Agree with Augusta and others

Hilary Clinton has just endorsed Obama's words too. I didn't interpret them as threatening. He was being realistic.

[Madbengalmum]

Obama is a total hypocrite, and comes across as trying to blackmail us all into thinking the worst. As I am sure the americans, just like all of the other eu and non eu countries wont stop trading with us. Empty threats. Par for the course though.

[SetPhasersTaeMalkie]

Absolutely Augusta.

[OnYerBikePan]

Another Augusta agree-er. Providing a very well evidenced opinion, as a world leader.
I doubt very much that Obama and Cameron have much 'sympatico' betrween them. Reckon he'd much rather deal with Corbyn.

Trump - read a meme on FB last week " America - you call it an election. The rest of the world see it as an I.Q test. And things aren't looking good."

[AugustaFinkNottle]

Madbengal, how on earth can it be blackmail? The use of that sort of terminology actually exposes the pro-leave faction as essentially empty vessels.

[OnYerBikePan]

I should say Obama is the world leader, not Augusta...unless I've missed something about MN posters.

[SouthWesterlyWinds]

This is Toothless

[Wolpertinger]

Polls would suggest Clinton is much more likely to be the next president than Trump.

Even if you got Trump he'll have difficulty making his policies work - the Republicans are trying to get rid of him, his Russia friendly policies aren't going to go down well in Congress, he's going to struggle to get anything done. Setting up trade deals with the UK would be way down his agenda too.

[Tiopyn]

As for the remaining EU countries, my understanding (I could be wrong) is that they have to pay higher tax/tariffs if they buy from outside the EU. So the UK won't be given a high priority there either.

[annandale]

Agree that Obama isn't bezzies with Cameron, though I don't personally think he would find Corbyn particularly engaging either. His priority from a foreign economic point of view has been Asia. I think it's narcissistic to think he would come over here to try and 'blackmail' us to stay in the EU - we were a stop off on the way back from somewhere else and certainly the US wouldn't see us as any kind of priority separate from our economic bloc.

[SquinkiesRule]

Sounded like scaremongering to me.
He won't even be the president and US businesses who trade and do business in UK will put tons of pressure on the US government to get it all sorted ASAP not only for their own exports, but for imports too.
We are a pretty large trading partner without the rest of Europe same goes for Germany and France.

[Mommawoo]

Trump could be president? If that happens I'm leaving the planet.

Seriously, I thought he was just a joke candidate there to provide some comic relief. Is there a real chance he could get elected?

(Shudders)