Trump's "half apology" to May

President Donald Trump is always full of himself, can never stop congratulating himself and anybody disagreeing is part of a "fake" world. He never apologises, which makes his comment that he had tried to apologise to Theresa May, albeit without admitting he did anything wrong so interesting. Standing next to May during a joint news conference at the British Prime Minister's official country house, Chequers, Trump announced he had at least started to apologise earlier in the morning. Why such a drastic step? Because of an interview in the tabloid Sun in which he was critical of May on Brexit and for not taking his advice. He also said she "wrecked" Brexit, which he supports. The headline in question: "TRUMP'S BREXIT BLAST Donald Trump told Theresa May how to do Brexit 'but she wrecked it' -- and says the US trade deal is off." The newspaper interview dropped on the same night May honoured him at a black-tie dinner at Winston Churchill's ancestral home. It led to an extremely awkward situation since the two were slated for meetings and the joint press conference after he criticised her and praised her political rival and former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who Trump said would be good at May's job. That's what it takes to get an apology from Trump, apparently.

At the news conference, Trump brought up the interview and sought to clarify that Johnson would indeed be a good Prime Minister, but May is too. "I also said that this incredible woman right here is doing a fantastic job. And I mean that", Trump said. Trump denied criticising May, despite clearly doing so in the Sun interview, and called out the reporters for "fake news" even though the Sun is owned by Rupert Murdoch, his close ally. A full apology, strictly speaking, would be Trump apologising for saying the things he said to the Sun reporters. That's not exactly what Trump did. He was saying he wanted to apologise to her because he actually said such nice things about her. May was gracious throughout the exchange and joked with Trump about the press.(Keep in mind May arguably needs Trump's support and wants a trade deal with the US). If Trump had apologised, it would have been a very big deal, since Trump is not sorry, really ever. Though it is rare, there is a clear instance of Trump apologising, after the Access Hollywood tape, in which he described assaulting women, leaked just before the 2016 election. He also backed into an apology during an interview with the British journalist Piers Morgan when Morgan said he should apologise for retweeting anti-Muslim videos from an ultra-nationalist British political group. And now this.