Trump is set to arrive in the UK on Monday. He's already stirring up drama.

Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. — (Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

It appears President Trump has a favorite candidate for the United Kingdom's next prime minister.

Trump on Friday praised British MP Boris Johnson, a pro-Brexit Tory who is considered one of the favorites to replace outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May in June, in an interview with the British tabloid, The Sun. His words caused a stir in the U.K. ahead of his scheduled visit to the country on Monday.

Trump said Johnson would make an "excellent" prime minister and that he has always been fond of him. Johnson has not responded to Trump's comments, but, The Guardian writes, he has not always seen eye to eye with the president. At one point, referring to Trump's 2015 comments that there were "no-go areas in London" where police feared for their lives because of threats posed by Muslims, Johnson said Trump displayed "stupefying ignorance" and was "unfit" for the office of the presidency.

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Trump also claimed other candidates for prime minister had approached him for endorsements, The Guardian reports.

In the same interview, Trump criticized Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, who will reportedly not be present when Trump meets with the rest of the royal family. Trump called her "nasty," when he learned of negative comments Markle made before the 2016 presidential election. He did, however, say he is sure Markle will "do excellently" as a royal.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.