Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Trump apologises to Theresa May over Brexit attack but stays firm on US deal doubts… Donald Trump apologised to Theresa May yesterday as he rowed back on his bombshell Brexit attack on her in The Sun. The US President’s withering verdict on her troubled EU negotiations — in an interview with us yesterday — sent shockwaves around the world. Delivered on the eve of his three day visit to Britain, the diplomatic disaster enraged US and UK politicians alike and left the Special Relationship teetering on the brink. Mrs May confronted Trump during tense talks at Chequers, also challenging his combustive claim that her new soft Brexit blueprint would “kill” a cherished UK-US trade deal. However, in a rapid about-turn overnight, the President confessed he had apologised for his diatribe, and for revealing that she had ignored his advice. Mr Trump instead insisted on Brexit: “Whatever you do is OK with me”. – The Sun Trump ‘sorry’ to PM for explosive Brexit claims – Sky News Sky Data poll: Britons back Trump airing Brexit views – Sky News Trump visit: US trade deal still has mountain to climb – The Times (£) Trump comments ‘the last thing Theresa May needed’ – BBC News Trump sends May to the back of the queue – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Donald Trump Brexit intervention is a disgraceful insult to Britain – Iain Martin for Reaction Theresa May bewildered Team Trump with her Brexit approach. Now they’re angry – Nigel Farage for the Telegraph (£) Trade with America is meant to be a big Brexit prize, but Theresa May spurned it long ago – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) > WATCH on BrexitCentral’s YouTube Channel: Trump says maybe UK won’t leave EU …after Trump aides had asked Brexiteers how the President could help secure a clean Brexit… Tory Eurosceptics helped engineer Donald Trump’s explosive Brexit intervention on Friday after the one of his key aides asked them how he could help secure a clean exit for the UK from the EU, it has been claimed. John Bolton, Mr Trump’s National Security Adviser, spent more than an hour discussing Brexit with members of the influential European Research Group of Conservative MPs in London on June 25. That came just over two weeks before Mr Trump gave an interview to The Sun newspaper on Wednesday in which he said that Theresa May’s Chequers deal on Brexit would “kill” any trade deal with the US. – Telegraph (£) Donald Trump didn’t meet Boris Johnson on trip to London – The Sun …and Steve Bannon reveals the ‘brutal’ advice Trump gave to May on negotiations Referring to the president’s advice to Mrs May to be “brutal” in Brexit negotiations, Mr Bannon said: “Trump gave her some pointers and pulled her off to the side and said, ‘Hey if I was doing this here is how tough you have got to be because these guys are not going to let you go’. “He gave her the précis [of his book ‘The Art of the Deal’] which is ‘overshoot your target, be tough and get on with it – because if this drags on it is going to be bad’.” Mr Bannon urged people who support Brexit to campaign for a clean break from the EU, saying: “I keep hearing that The Telegraph is getting thousands of letters a day, when they traditionally get a couple of hundred. “I think letters are one thing, but I think you are really having to get empowered. People are going to have to really get up on it and let people know that we voted to leave and we demand to leave.” – Telegraph (£) David Davis prepared to join eurosceptic rebels and back amendment to key legislation next week… David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, is prepared to join Eurosceptic MPs and vote against the Government next week in a move that could force ministers into a climbdown. Mr Davis, who quit last week in protest at the Chequers compromise, is willing to back an amendment which will enshrine in law a commitment that there will be no customs border down the Irish Sea. It is one of four amendments to the Government’s flagship trade bill that have been tabled by Eurosceptics in a bid to block the Prime Minister’s Chequer’s compromise over Brexit. – Telegraph (£) …as Theresa May begins crunch talks with Brexit rebels Theresa May launched crisis talks with Brexit rebels yesterday as furious Tories claimed her White Paper was “dead in the water”. Veterans Edward Leigh, John Penrose and Cheryl Gillan were among backbenchers invited to Chequers for a 45 minute summit with the PM after Donald Trump left the official residence. Invites were sent out by the whips late on Thursday night amid speculation Brexiteers were so furious at the PM’s ‘soft’ Brexit vision they may vote down the Government’s flagship Trade and Customs Bill on Monday. Veterans such as Bernard Jenkin and Bill Cash didn’t attend. And one hard-line Brexit-backer dismissed the talks as “an effort to butter up the butterable”. But sources claimed No.10 had been alarmed at the backlash. – The Sun Brexit chaos puts Conservatives on the edge of a breakdown – FT (£) Philip Hammond defends May’s Brexit plan – Sky News The Government’s White Paper plan would not free us from the European Court of Justice – Mark Wallace for ConservativeHome No matter how many times the Maybot denies it, this is a bogus Brexit – Timothy Bradshaw for ConservativeWoman Get Britain Out’s letter to Theresa May – the Chequers proposal is not Brexit – Get Britain Out It’s time for Theresa May to level with British voters over Brexit plan – The Sun editorial Theresa May’s Brexit plan fails on politics and policy – The Telegraph editorial > Ted Bromund on BrexitCentral today: With her Chequers Plan, May is repeating the mistakes of former Tory Prime Ministers Ministers will next week formally agree to tell British businesses to begin planning for no-deal Brexit Ministers will next week formally agree to tell British business to begin planning for a ‘No Deal’, the Sun can reveal. After months of dithering, a Brexit committee will approve the shift in the next few days despite fears it could convince some firms to relocate work to the Continent. Business Secretary Greg Clark has warned that the No Deal warning could spread “panic” among firms. But James Forsyth reveals in today’s Sun that Ministers believe there is now little alternative given there are just three months left to try and agree an outline trade deal with EU negotiators. One frustrated Minister said: “We’ve been having this conversation for months.” Downing Street is separately expected to be “much more public” about ‘No Deal’ planning over the coming week. HMRC bosses earlier this week claimed there was a “systemic risk” because they hadn’t yet spoken to 200,000 firms who may need to submit customs declarations for the first time in the event of a No Deal. – The Sun Questions mount about Juncker’s health Jean-Claude Juncker is recovering from an attack of sciatica, his chief spokesman said Friday, as questions mounted about the European Commission president’s health following a video that showed him unable to walk without assistance at a NATO leaders’ event on Wednesday. The video showed Juncker stumbling and repeatedly needing assistance from fellow leaders to regain his balance and avoid falling. At one point, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appeared to save Juncker from falling backward. – Politico Nigel Farage: Theresa May bewildered Team Trump with her Brexit approach. Now they’re angry It struck like a bombshell at the heart of the British establishment. President Trump’s torpedoing of the UK government’s Brexit position hours after arriving on British soil was, to most people, unprecedented and unexpected. But I have to say that I was not surprised at all. The immediate reaction of some in the media were that I might have had a hand in the dramatic headlines splashed all over The Sun that Theresa May has “wrecked” Brexit and the US trade deal is off. While I will admit that some of the language Trump used in his Sun interview was similar to my reaction to the Chequers proposal, I think people underestimate President Trump’s Euroscepticism. – Nigel Farage MEP for the Telegraph (£) John Redwood: President Obama intervened in a crucial referendum. President Trump did not Some commentators see symmetry in the interventions anti and pro Brexit by successive Presidents. There is one crucial difference. President Trump is not intervening in an election or referendum, whereas President Obama deliberately tried to influence voting. Most of us think a government leader should not try to influence an election in another democracy during an election period. As it happens, I think it was an ill judged intervention, as it added to the unreality of Project Fear and ended up helping the Leave campaign. The other difference with Mr Trump’s intervention is his is a factual statement. – John Redwood’s Diary David Green: The EU is terrified that Britain will make a success of Brexit The EU is terrified that we will make a success of our independence. It knows perfectly well that its iconic policies have proved disastrous. The eurozone is fatally flawed and the Schengen agreement on immigration is in tatters. If we prosper, it will send a message to countries such as Italy and Spain, where unemployment is high, that there is another way. The EU’s negotiating strategy is to make British success as difficult as possible. They are scared stiff that we will flourish and show the world how misguided the EU project is. Instead of pressing home our advantage, Theresa May’s white paper plays into the hands of the fearful and defensive EU oligarchs. It’s as if she wants us to enter a race while making a solemn promise to the other contestants that we will not run at full speed. Leaving without an agreement would be better than accepting the white paper. – David Green for The Spectator Robert Tombs: Why has the elite not adapted to Brexit? Let me begin with three quotations: 1. Whatever the terms of a deal with Europe, ‘we must swallow the lot’; 2. Britain is ‘the sinking Titanic’, Europe ‘the lifeboat’; 3. Being in ‘Europe…would be in the interests of this country whatever the terms’. These quotations come from a senior Foreign Office official in charge of negotiations, the PM’s senior advisor, and from a leading Tory backbench Europhile. But they were made in the 1970s, not 2018. This shows that the bureaucracy, the political class, and much of ‘the elite’ generally have not adapted to half a century of change, but ‘the country’ has. They are not ready for Brexit. The country is. Why? – Robert Tombs for CommentCentral Brexit in Brief Who will rid us of this perfidious Prime Minister? – Michael St George for ConservativeWoman May’s White Paper would – just about – allow Britain to be a force for global free trade – Jonathan de Leyser for CapX We are heading toward a political crisis the likes of which none of us has seen before – James Forsyth for The Sun Why the City is wrong to oppose the Brexit White Paper – Maggie Pagano for Reaction Why the EU may be minded to accept Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit Plan – Briefings for Brexit Competition Law and Brexit – a Lesson from History – Nick Pimlott for Briefings for Brexit Trade war rhetoric escalates – City A.M. Theresa May’s Brexit blueprint is boosted by top German politician’s backing – The Sun