May's warm relations with Trump chill EU ties

I think the reception she’s going to get in Malta is going to be pretty frosty,” said John Springford of the Centre for European Reform. He said most EU leaders don’t appreciate May cozying up to the new president, who has just been described by the head of the European Council as one of the major threats to the future of the EU — along with China, Russia and radical Islam. Springford said that Trump’s offer of a free trade deal with Britain will hinder her Brexit negotiations. “A lot of Europeans see this as, essentially, the UK trying to use the deal to blackmail the EU into giving lots of concessions to the U.K., and they don’t take it kindly,” he said.