--- title: Obama on Brexit: U.K. 'Special Relationship' Won't Change description: President Obama said the "Brexit" vote in the U.K. to leave the E.U. won't change the "special relationship" between the two nations. canonical: https://time.com/4382111/president-obama-on-brexit-u-s-and-u-k-special-relationship-wont-change/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-24T18:36:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:50:52.388Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama on Brexit: U.S. and U.K. 'Special Relationship' Won't Change og:description: "One thing that will not change is the special relationship" og:url: https://time.com/4382111/president-obama-on-brexit-u-s-and-u-k-special-relationship-wont-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte22c4825a85bb4c5/6988995c3c1639474d45dc98/obama4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama on Brexit: U.S. and U.K. 'Special Relationship' Won't Change twitter:description: "One thing that will not change is the special relationship" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte22c4825a85bb4c5/6988995c3c1639474d45dc98/obama4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama on Brexit: U.S. and U.K. 'Special Relationship' Won't Change > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 24, 2016 6:36 PM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Stanford, Calif., on June 24, 2016. President Barack Obama speaks at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Stanford, Calif., on June 24, 2016. Jeff Chiu—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 24, 2016 6:36 PM UTC President Obama said on Friday that [the recent “Brexit” vote in the United Kingdom](http://time.com/4381487/brexit-barack-obama-joe-biden/?xid=homepage) to leave the European Union won’t change the “special relationship” between the two nations. During remarks that the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Obama said he had recently spoken to British Prime Minister David Cameron, a strong supporter of remaining in the E.U., who said he [would resign by the end of the year](http://time.com/4381193/david-cameron-resigns-brexit-vote/?xid=homepage) in the wake of the Brexit vote. Obama called Cameron an “outstanding friend and partner” and said he is confident the United Kingdom is “committed to an orderly transition out of the European Union.” President Obama said the vote on Thursday was an indication of the “ongoing changes and challenges raised by globalization,” but the president said the vote will not have an impact on the U.S.’s relationship with the U.K. “One thing that will not change is the special relationship between our two countries,” Obama said Friday, adding that the U.K.’s membership in NATO was also important. The President, who also supported Britain remaining part of the E.U., [has previously implied](http://time.com/4305022/president-obama-pushes-against-brexit-during-u-k-visit/) that America would be slow to sign a free trade agreement with the U.K. should it vote in favor of leaving the union. “There might be a U.K.-U.S. trade agreement, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon,” Obama said in April, referring to a possible Brexit, adding that the U.K. would be pushed to the “back of the queue” on trade. In a statement released by the White House earlier on Friday, Obama said the vote did not impact the U.S.’s relationship with the European Union either. “The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued stability, security, and prosperity for Europe, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the world,” the statement reads. President Obama spoke at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Silicon Valley where he also sat in on a panel discussion with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and three entrepreneurs. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4382111/president-obama-on-brexit-u-s-and-u-k-special-relationship-wont-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4382111/president-obama-on-brexit-u-s-and-u-k-special-relationship-wont-change/"},"headline":"President Obama on Brexit: U.S. and U.K. 'Special Relationship' Won't Change","datePublished":"2016-06-24T18:36:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:50:52.388Z","description":"\"One thing that will not change is the special relationship between our two countries\"","url":"https://time.com/4382111/president-obama-on-brexit-u-s-and-u-k-special-relationship-wont-change/","keywords":["Barack Obama","European Union","White House","Obama","U.K.","United Kingdom","Brexit"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte22c4825a85bb4c5/6988995c3c1639474d45dc98/obama4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte22c4825a85bb4c5/6988995c3c1639474d45dc98/obama4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"President Barack Obama speaks at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Stanford, Calif., Friday, June 24, 2016. 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