Cruz Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: CRUZ: Britain Will Be at the Front of the Queue for a US Trade Deal

HOUSTON, Texas - Presidential candidate Ted Cruz penned the following op-ed in The Times of London expressing his intent to strengthen, rather than compromise, the United States' special relationship with Britain regardless of the outcome of the vote on Brexit.

Britain will be at the front of the queue for a US trade deal

The Times of London

Ted Cruz

Instead of standing with our allies President Obama routinely hurls insults at them. Sadly, it happened in London last Friday, when the President of the United States informed the British people they would be at the "back of the queue" for a US-UK free trade deal if they dared to vote to leave the EU on June 23. This was nothing less than a slap in the face of British self-determination as the president, typically, elevated an international organisation over the rights of a sovereign people.

I believe Britain's future in Europe is a matter for the British people to decide. If Britain does vote to leave the EU, the United States should respect that decision — and treat it as an opportunity for our own country.

If I am elected to be the next president of the United States, we will ensure that the special relationship is strengthened rather than weakened, and that America works closely with Great Britain to address the myriad challenges faced by the free world, from Islamist terrorism to a resurgent Russia.

If Brexit takes place, Britain will be at the front of the line for a free trade deal with America, not at the back. There is a vast amount of trade, commerce and investment between our two nations. And, as I explained when I delivered the Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture in 2014: "Such an agreement between the US and the UK would be an opportunity to mutually deregulate our economies — in contrast to the TTIP, which is proving an exercise in ‘harmonising' regulations . . . Deregulation is a powerful, liberating economic force that can lead to significant economic growth — something Lady Thatcher understood all too well. Such an agreement can also be an aspirational model for other nations, encouraging them to look to bedrock principles of conservatism and individual liberty."

In marked contrast, Barack Obama has appeased America's enemies, and has taken every opportunity to curry favour with those who seek to threaten our interests. The reality is that Obama reserves his harshest language for our friends while offering generosity and platitudes to our enemies.

Compare, for example, his menacing words in London last week with his cordial March 21 press conference alongside President Raul Castro in Cuba. Mr Obama refused to confront the vicious Castro dictatorship over its brutal torturing and jailing of political prisoners. He left unmentioned its systematic economic exploitation of its people. The Castros' half-century of sponsoring violent terrorism was ignored. Instead, the president praised "the values that we share" and spoke of a "new hope for the future." Most astoundingly, he affirmed "that Cuba's destiny will not be decided by the United States or any other nation. Cuba is sovereign . . . and the future of Cuba will be decided by Cubans, not by anybody else." This could have been a "tear down this wall" moment, standing with the Cuban people fighting for their freedom. Instead it was an act of humiliating abasement before a grizzled tyrant who loathes America.

As usual, Mr Obama has the situation exactly backwards. We should be respecting the rights of the British people to participate in their democratic process, and denouncing the Castros' illegitimate oppression of their own people. And rather than trying to eke some meagre profits out of Cuba's anaemic, state-run system, we should be exploiting the opportunity to partner with the far more powerful British economy.

The British people will shape their destiny, and we will stand with them regardless of the outcome of the referendum. As president, I will work to ensure that our special relationship is reinvigorated — and the Obama doctrine of coddling tyrants while castigating democratic allies will finally be at an end.