♪ to the queen. [applause] our coverage of president trump's visit to the uk continues tomorrow when he holds a joint news conference with british prime minister teresa may following their meeting. that's live from london, tuesday at 8:40 5 a.m. eastern on c-span two.

>> joining us now is dr. amanda sloan with brookings institution. -- goodry morning. what are the larger ramifications of this trip when it comes to the relationship between these two countries? guest: this trip will be focused on ceremony and less on substance. as you have been discussing, we have an american president very unpopular in the u.k. and we have theresa may as prime minister, who will step down as leader of the conservative party in the next couple of days, so she is a lame-duck in terms of policy discussions. it is a state visit. a lot of pageantry comes with that. the focus will be looking at the larger fundamentals of the importance of the relationship. host: how would you gauge the nature of the relationship today? guest: you can look at relationships in terms of relations between countries and relations between leaders. between countries, the u.k. has been one of our closest allies.

we continue to cooperate with them on defense. there are a number of policy differences. in terms of relations between leaders, it is difficult. we have seen president trump, on a number of occasions, undermine prime minister theresa may. he has made some humiliating comments on her. he has been interfering, somewhat, on british domestic politics. and there are differences in how we see things, like on iran and china. host: how pointed to discussions get on these type of visits? guest: on discussions with the queen, it will just be niceties. donald trump is very enamored he will enjoy, so the ceremonial element of these discussions. the royal family tends to not get deeply involved in politics. in terms of policy discussions, we have already seen some comments made by president trump as well as by his national security advisor, john bolton,

who has been in london the last couple of days. but there are differences of opinion, like iran and britain's decision to use huaw ei 5g technology. host: is there an effort to bring the united kingdom alongside the united states when it comes to this efforts? been: president trump has clear he will articulate the policy interests that he things are in the american interests. his hope is that allies will come along. it is less of a give and take in more of an articulation of what the u.s. view is. visit thestate escutcheon up until 9:30. if you want to call in, republican, (202) 748-8001. democrat, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. what do you spec discussions as far as the nature of brexit and

the current condition of it, at least from the president's side? guest: i would not expect a lot of discussion with the queen on it. but president trump has been clear on what his view of brexit is. trump has been a cheerleader of brexit. he views the e.u. as an economic foe. as he said to a british newspaper over the weekend, he things theresa may has made mistakes and how she has negotiated. he thinks she should go for a hard brexit, she is not able to get what she wantss from the european union. he would be supportive of the u.k. leaving the e.u. without a deal. he has been interested in pursuing a free-trade agreement between the u.s. and the u.k. after their brexit. host: has a president suggested who should take over as prime minister? guest: president trump has been

enamored, the last couple of years, with boris johnson, one of the contenders for prime minister. johnsonngth -- boris used to be mayor of london. for ifforeign secretary years ago -- a few years ago. there is some speculation about whether or not trump will try to meet with boris johnson. host: do they share the same type of style philosophy? how do they relate to each other? guest: when trump was campaigning for president, boris johnson was interviewed and was not saying things particular the positive about president trump. but in the intervening period, boris johnson has been quite flattering of president trump, and president trump quite welcome his hard-line position on getting britain out of the e.u. host: again, (202) 748-8001 for

republicans. democrats.000 for (202) 748-8002 for independents. this piece saying that president that is --demagogue threatens peace and democracy. he is -- the more serious threat of the host nation isthe most serious t his presence will boost antidemocratic and right-wing list elements -- populist elements." will you speak to that? guest: there has been opposition in the u.k. from the left. we have seen jeremy corbyn refusing to attend the state dinner. we have seen a lot of concern by opposition politicians within

the u.k. that the prime minister should not have extended this visit to donald trump. it has been a lot of opposition to his policies on things like climate change and iran, and dating back to his early days in office with the muslim ban. genesis oft of the his hostility to the mayor in london, who had strong comments on that. there are many who oppose the idea of the president coming, and they will make clear their opposition to his policies. host: will those protests the sharp in nature do you think? guest: we will seek large-scale public protests. there are plans to fly the same balloon of trump in a diaper we saw last summer. it looks like they are moving

him around in a helicopter, which is less disruptive to traffic. host: in the u.s., their people asking why should they care about this visit and the nature of relations, how you speak to those concerns? guest: the underlying trend is the importance of the relations between the u.s. and the u.k. it is important to take the individual personalities out of politics and focus on the countries. the u.k. is one of our oldest and strongest allies they have thought along our side in a number of wars. the purpose is to commemorate the 75th anniversary of d-day he will participate in a number of those ceremonies in london. apart from the personalities, politics, and protests, it is an important opportunity to remember the strong ties between our countries. host: our first call comes from , republicanrlie line. caller: how are you doing?

i am calling to weigh in on trump. i read the scripture. trump is chosen to save america. if you read the lines of the scriptures, he is not a pagan god. he doesn't claim to be a god. host: i will stop you there. how does this relate to the president's trip overseas? caller: he is trying to make peace in the middle east like there has never been before. host: any response? guest: i think there are a lot of important issues the u.s. and the u.k. should be working on. president trump will be meeting with prime minister theresa may. her conservative party will remain in power. there are a number of things our countries should be cooperating on. there are a number of challenges in the middle east from the ongoing war in syria to efforts to address the israeli and palestinian peace process.

i think the u.s. is more effective at addressing these challenges when we work with our european partners. the: there was a piece from london school of economics that speaks to the trip, maybe the worst strategic mistake theresa may made was to refuse trump's invitation right after his operation to get in on an anglo-american free-trade agreement. guest: there will be continuing discussions about a free trade agreement between the two sides. as long as the u.k. is a member of the european union, it is not able to conclude free-trade agreements with other countries paid that is part of the nature of the economic commitment it signed up to. the u.k. leaves the european union, it will be interested in negotiating free-trade agreements. heart of the impetus for brexit

was to get the u.k. the ability to make its own economic decisions. president trump has expressed an interest in having a free-trade agreement with the u.k. i would disagree somewhat with the analysis in that these because prime minister -- piece because prime minister theresa may has been very interested in a free trade agreement. the problem is they first need to conclude reps negotiations. they are going to face some difficulties in terms of these negotiations with the u.s. because president trump takes a very hard line in his to asktion and is likely the u.k. to sign up to a number of compromises that are going to be difficult for them in terms andccepting gmo's adjustments to the pharmaceutical pricing at the nhs. this has been in the interest of both countries. i think it will remain complicated. host: when it comes to brexit,

why did it happen? guest: we can spend an entire show talking about that. theresa may and the european union negotiated and reached an agreement on a deal. theresa may has not been able to get that deal through parliament. we have seen it come up for about three times and failed all three times. she has had to go to the european union and ask for an extension twice. the current deadline is october 31. the next three months are being spent in this leadership contest now that theresa may has offered to resign as a result of her failure to deliver on brexit. of thatt three months extension will be spent replacing her. we are seeing a lot of the leaders seeking to replace her suggesting they are going to negotiate a better agreement. the challenge people have been objecting to has to do with the backstop in northern ireland. the u.k. is currently part of the eu trading relationship.

once it leaves the eu, it can have the opportunity to put in place its own economic regulation. the problem is northern ireland, which is part of the u.k., shares a border with the republic of ireland. that is going to become the external economic trading border u.k.en the eu and the there are going to need to be checked on the goods that are transiting that border in the way there are not currently. the issue and what people have not been able to resolve is the more you stay aligned with the eu regulations, the easier it is to have a frictionless border. you need less checks if your rules are aligned on safety standards and the products transiting the board appeared the more aligned you are -- border. the more aligned you are, the harder it is to negotiate with other countries like the u.s.

that is what is preventing brexit from moving forward. host: is there a potential to let brexit happen without a deal? what are the benefits of that choice? guest: i think the preferred option for many in the u.k. and european union is to have a negotiated deal. that addresses a raft of issues. if you think about a divorce, there is a lot to finalize in terms of who has custody of the kids, who pays the bills. having a deal is beneficial. the deal comes with a transition period during which they can define what their future relationship will look like. the second possibility is the u.k. leaves with no deal. if that happens, they crash out. there is no existing deal on how to handle things. there is no transition period. there would be scrambling to

address these problems. you have a lot of bricks who are living in europe, people who are retired living on the coast of spain, students, and a lot of europeans living in the u.k. you need to find a way to deal with that. the u.k. owes money to the european union. you have a situation on the border in northern ireland. the final option is to could have no brexit. the u.k. has the legal right to go to the european union and say we changed our mind. that is going to be quite unlikely because you did have this referendum supporting brexit, but that is the third possibility. host: this is beverly from florida, independent line. caller: it is good to speak with you. i think what people forget about president trump is he has been

involved in politics since the late 1970's. i feel he has an absolute right to give his opinion to the u.k. about, i believe, it is the highlight, the 5g program for and what they take on for all of their messaging because of the fact that we rely on their intel. they help us with terrorist activities. we help them with terrorist activities. i think that is important. i was a regional director for the committee to save american free enterprise in the late 1970's. mr. trump was very vocal about threats to our intellectual property with china and how and howt it is today

important it is to use clean intel and pull china out of muddying the waters. host: thank you. guest: beverly is right to raise the issue of china and huawei. i think this is going to be on eetingenda of trump's m with prime minister theresa may. we have seen a lot of european countries want to use huawei as part of their effort to incorporate 5g technology. this is a decision the u.s. decided not to use huawei because of the intelligence concerns beverly cited. the president and john bolton have been critical of the decision by theresa may's to buildo allow huawei some of the non-core aspects of 5g.

resignation of the defense secretary. this is something that is going to be on the president's agenda for his meetings in london. host: from richard in pennsylvania, republican line, go ahead. caller: nice to have your guest on. ofppreciate the description -- the comments as to why the british people got into brexit in the first place. would you say that the two primary drivers for the referendum had to do with the contributions that great britain and all eu nations are required to pay and also the free movement of people? is you mentionnt how the people in the u.k. on

the left perceived donald trump, but you never mentioned the people on the right as well as the political parties on the right in other european countries. could you offer any comment on that? guest: thank you. i think both of those are excellent questions. on your second one, my comment on the left was specifically in response to the guardian article, which is a left-leaning paper. particular concerns have been expressed by the opposition parties in the u.k. i think there is concern by abouton the right as well some of the presence policies. theresa may is a conservative prime minister, and she disagrees with the president on many things. a lot of the opposition to the president's visit has come from the political opposition within the u.k., but in in terms of

policy differences, there are concerns that are shared on those on the right side in the u.k. as well. as far as the drivers for brexit, you are right. there have been a couple of factors that have been identified as motivating people to vote for brexit. one of those is the financial one you mentioned. it certainly came up in the campaign, this idea that the u.k. was providing large financial contributions to the european union. there were some false claims that a lot of this money could be returned and reinvested in the national health service. one thing people do not always understand or appreciate was that the u.k. was getting a lot of money back from the european union, particularly in more rural and deprived areas of the u.k. to develop local infrastructure. there was a lot of peace funding in northern ireland. the second identifier was this free movement of people.

one of the provisions of the single market is the european citizens are able to live and work in any european union member state they want. some people within the u.k. were unhappy that citizens of other eu countries were coming to live and work in their country. one that is often cited is the polish plumber. the final factor was a much broader sovereignty argument, this idea that the u.k. did not necessarily want to be part of a collective decision-making process. they wanted the right to make some of their own economic and regulatory decisions, such as being able to negotiate free-trade agreements with the u.s. if they wanted. the difficulty of the u.k. will face is simply the geographic and practical reality that the european union is a very large entity to their east. it is their largest trading partner.

whatever form of brexit they end up taking, they will have to find a way to manage their political, economic, and security relations. york,immigrant from new trudy. -- democrat from new york, trudy. caller: i would like to comment. i do support the mayor in london. i am originally from germany. in germany, how can an uneducated man coming from building buildings become president? he doesn't have the qualification. in the german legislature, you find people with phd's. they have education. the people in this country are not so educated, isolated, vote for this man. he would never be able to go to germany for a visit. host: thank you. broaderhere is a

question i guess about why the american people chose to elect donald trump. certainly she points out that donald trump's visit has inflamed political tensions in london. we are seeing comments from those in the opposition, and certainly president trump has had a difficult relationship with the london mayor. the president has been critical of his handling of terrorist attacks that have happened in london. the london mayor has been critical of his muslim ban. we are seeing that play out on twitter now, which is unfortunate leading up to the state dinner in london. it does reflect a lot of the political opposition in the u.k. host: we saw initial public support for brexit. what happened to that support and where is it now? guest: the support was very narrow.

it was a very narrow margin. i have lost the figures. i think it was around 51% to 49%. it was only about two percentage points difference. you have a very polarized country. it is similar to how polarized politics are in the u.s. there has been criticism about the way the brexit referendum campaign was won. there were promises made during the campaign that a lot of funding was going to come back from the european union and be invested in the national health service. it was revealed that that was not the case. you are seeing increasing opposition to brexit, in part because people are seeing how complicated political divorce is and because people are getting a better sense of what the actual political cost of brexit will be. there was nearly half of the country that supports brexit and is frustrated by the fact that

it is three years since the referendum, and it still has not happened. host: from alabama, republican line, bill. i would like to ask your guest since she was part of the obama administration, for the obama failures that are so vast notraq, syria, ukraine, working to stop the hacking on our elections, the catastrophic invasion of europe from africa, where those intentional acts, or was that incompetence on part of the people in that administration? as one who served in the administration and served president obama, i think all of us made the best political decisions that we could at the time. i think the president was committed to keeping the american people safe, partnering with our friends and allies,

particularly in europe, and responding to global challenges as they emerged. host: from missouri, democrats line, richard. owns propertyump in england, doesn't he? if he guest: i'm not sure owns property in england, but he owns a golf course in scotland, which he has stated in on previous trips, and he owns a golf course in ireland. after he leaves london, he will be visiting france and participating in some of the normandy commemorations. it appears the president has chosen not to spend the night in france, but he will be spending some time at his golf course in ireland. maryland, democrats line, william. caller: good morning. thank you to c-span. thatt to make a comment

even as much as i am opposed to donald trump, the british government is pretty much obligated to host the president of the united states. they are one of their closest allies. that is my comment. i think that is a fair point. there are certainly people who are making that comment in london as well. the u.k. has long been one of our closest allies. i think it is important amid all of this politics and the political churn to remain focused on the important and strong relationship between our countries. host: this is the third state visit in modern times of a president, including george w. bush and president obama. what significance does that hold? guest: has one of your previous guests said, it is the highest honor that a country can bestow on the leader of a foreign

country. it typically comes with all of the formal pomp and circumstance. the queen is the head of state. the prime minister is the head of government. it is meant to be a celebration of the relationship between the two countries. it is important to her member that things were slightly different when this visit was first extended. prime minister theresa may visit president donald trump in late january of 2017, about a week after he was inaugurated. european allies were scrambling to understand with this new american leader was, wanting to develop a good working relationship with him. theresa may was facing brexit and wanting to project this image of a global britain, wanting to do free trade agreements with the u.s. and other partners. it was in that context she extended him the honor of a state visit. certainly, the relationship has become complicated.

there have been discussion of the state visit last year. that was turned into a working visit. nearly two many people in britain signed a petition saying they did not want donald trump to come. some of the policies and rhetoric we have seen from president trump has made relationship much more probably get it. the idea of the state visit and the hope of the british government is going to be focusing on the broader importance of the relationship rather than these political differences. host: when it comes to theresa may, what does her future hold? what happens to a prime minister when they leave office? guest: she has said she will stay on as a conservative member of parliament for now. i would expect she will not run for reelection. as will fade into the aether many prime ministers have done. we have seen former prime minister tony blair is a very passionate opponent of brexit

and weighing in. we have seen her predecessors william hague and david cameron expressing some of their opinions. she will probably pursue a range of other opportunities. host: potential people who could replace her, boris johnson, and who are the other large competitors? guest: some have compared the conservative leadership contest with the democratic limerick contest in the u.s. with an ever-growing field of people seeking to replace her. we are around 13 or 15. boris johnson is certainly the best known here. we have dominic rob, the former minister responsible for negotiating brexit. hn, jeremychael go hunt, the current foreign secretary. a lot of the campaign they are engaging in is focusing on this

idea of whether they can negotiate a better brexit deal. the process for how this works is that people who are running need to members of parliament to nominate them, which is quite easy to have. members of parliament within the conservative party will narrow the list down to two people. members of the conservative party, which is only around 120,000 in the u.k., will vote between the final two candidates. it is similar to people in iowa standing in the corner of school gyms, a fairly narrow segment of the population that is making the final decision on the leader, but a lot of the campaigning for this job is going to focus on who can take a hard stance on brexit and who can seek to convince people that they can negotiate a better deal. host: from florida, you're on the line with our guest amanda

sloat. we are i'm not surprised sitting here listening to a senior fellow. i'm sorry, but i just don't see that she has a great deal of knowledge. anybody can get on the internet and read what she has been spewing. the sad part is, you talk about experience. trump has been an experienced negotiator around the world for 40 to 50 years. the fact that he recognizes our greatest partner, the united kingdom, makes me wonder why we don't support our president. the first thing out of your mouth that i heard when i started watching was his muslim ban. if you pay attention in the world, there is no and never has been a muslim ban. that was a little word used by the democrats to hurt mr. trump. we should be supporting our president. host: since you called and asked

the question, and we invite our guests to give their experience and opinion, we will let our guest respond. guest: my reference on the muslim ban was characterizing with the mayor of london was responding to. in newe will go to lee york, democrats line. caller: i want to thank amanda sloat for making a lot of the publications of brexit clear. why does she think the british people are so unprepared for understanding what the ramifications of brexit would mean? turmoil in britain mean for the u.s. in terms of trade? guest: both of those are excellent questions. in terms of what the implications are for the u.s., i think the fact that brexit has been dragging on as long as it

has has created uncertainty for american businesses, american companies that are operating in the u.k., companies that are invested in the london stock exchange, and for tourists who are traveling to the u.k. and are uncertain about the degree of disruption. politically for the u.s., one of the most damaging parts of the brexit debate has been that it is consuming all of the political bandwidth within london. the british government is a most exclusively focused on the brexit debate, which makes it much more difficult for them to engage in policy discussions with the u.s. on a large number of global challenges that we want to focus on together. in terms of your first question about why people did not , brexit has been enormously complicated. the eu is complicated as a political institution. i think falcon be put on

political leaders for not having sufficiently explained the way the european union has operated, the same way people tend to blame washington for lots of things, people tend to blame brussels for lots of things despite the fact that britain engaged in a lot of the decisions that were made by the european union, and there was false information that was put toward in the political campaign. what we have seen over the last three years is people have gotten a much better appreciation for all of the things that the european union does, the benefits that the european union has had, and for those that either were opposed to brexit or may not have voted cap i think they are now seeing all they stand to lose. i have also heard from other people that were opposed to brexit that if it was not that invasive in their lives, then it should not be taking so long for that to actually happen.

i think all of this information is solidifying opinions on both sides of the debate. as you are talking, we have video of the queen of england. guest: i think we will see a lot of things that are quite common on state visits. president trump is always been impressed with the queen. i think he will be personally honored to meet the queen, and this will be the aspect of the visit he is most excited about and will enjoy the most. vox has amore thing, piece quoting the president as telling the prime minister they should walk away altogether. i think that really has been the president's view, the problem with that is the u.k. is still going to need to deal with the european union, and even if they leave without a deal, they are going to need to have some sort of economic arrangement in

place to manage their trade. the eu has been clear that there are preconditions for those discussions. the u.k. to pay its bills and to protect the rights of european citizens living in the u.k., and they will want to manage the border in northern ireland. this is not like a business relationship where you can simply walk away. aese are countries that have sustained economic, political and security interest, and they are going to have to reach some sort of deal or accommodation were way of working, whether or not there is an agreement on the actual brexit deal. host: our guest served as the former deputy secretary for eastern europe in the obama administration. >> c-span's washington journal with policy issues that impact

you. come up tuesday morning the brookings institution, joshua governmentbound how the millenials when it comes to saving for retirement. and the author of "the boy crisis." the struggles facing boys today. be sure to watch life tuesday morning. join the discussion. tonight, on c-span, we'll hear from supreme court justice clarence thomas. then e.p.a. administrator andrew wheeler talks about environmental protections and other priority for his agency. and later, highlights from president trump's highlight to the u.k. which included a stop at buckingham palace to meet with queen elizabeth and members of the royal family. on monday, supreme court justice clarence thomas sat down with david ruben stein of the economic club of washington,

d.c. to discuss his legal career and his plans for the future. this was part of the supreme court historical society annual lecture series. from inside the u.s. supreme court, this is just under an hour. [applause] >> thomas, thank you very much. you have to get out of here by june. you have 24 opinions to go, are you going to make it? justice thomas: i don't know my colleagues, i'm out of here. >> you have a bus that you like to driver around the country. when you drive around the country, and you get out of the bus, do people recognize you right away? justice thomas: well, yes and no. i know that's kind of both ways but that's what happens. so we did 23 states last summer. and i was recognized probably