The Telegraph reports in depth on a set of leaked meeting notes from Boris Johnson’s stint as UK foreign minister – this one section when Trump, just days after being inaugurated and hosting Theresa May’s government in the White House sticks out however:
“‘Isn’t this place great? It’s so great,’ Mr Trump began, enthusing about his new home as his guests settled in for the meal. ‘I’ve been to Buckingham Palace before and that’s greater.” Only a few days into the job, Mr Trump was still seething over claims his inauguration had been poorly attended. He defended the size of the crowd and then compared the anti-Trump Women’s March with the anti-abortion March for Life. The president then picked up the theme. ‘Abortion is such a tough issue’, he said, touching on a topic that has been a dividing line in US politics for decades. He wanted to know where Mrs May stood. Pro-choice or pro-life ‘Imagine some animal with tattoos raping your daughter and then she gets pregnant’, the president said, according to the notes, graphically outlining the case for allowing abortion. Mr Trump then pointed at Mike Pence, the US vice president known for being deeply religious. ‘He’s a really tough one on abortion’, he is quoted saying, before again Mrs May for her view. The then prime minister offered a careful response – ‘diplomatically threading the needle’ according to one source familiar with the conversation – before shifting the discussion back to safer ground.”