DONALD Trump apologised to Theresa May yesterday as he rowed back on his bombshell Brexit attack on her in The Sun.

The US President’s withering verdict on her troubled EU negotiations — in an interview with us yesterday — sent shockwaves around the world.

Delivered on the eve of his three day visit to Britain, the diplomatic disaster enraged US and UK politicians alike and left the Special Relationship teetering on the brink.

Mrs May confronted Trump during tense talks at Chequers, also challenging his combustive claim that her new soft Brexit blueprint would “kill” a cherished UK-US trade deal.

However, in a rapid about-turn overnight, the President confessed he had apologised for his diatribe, and for revealing that she had ignored his advice.

Mr Trump instead insisted on Brexit: “Whatever you do is OK with me".

He held Mrs May’s hand as they descended the garden steps to their outdoor press conference in the grounds of her country retreat.

And he gushed: “This incredible woman right here is doing a fantastic job. I mean that.

“She is a tough negotiator, very smart and determined.

“And I must say, I have gotten to know Theresa May much better over the last two days than I have known her over the last year and a half.

“I think she’s a terrific woman. I think she’s doing a terrific job. And that Brexit is a very tough situation, that’s a tough deal.”

The transatlantic relationship was back to 'the highest level of special', he claimed.

A trade deal between the US and UK "will absolutely be possible", Mr Trump also declared.

But he left question marks over how good it may be, saying: “I don’t know what the UK is going to do on leaving the EU — just make sure you can trade with us.”

Despite backtracking over Mrs May, Mr Trump held firm on a series of other controversial claims he made to The Sun in the interview in yesterday’s paper.

The President again issued his doomsday warning to European countries that mass migration is destroying their cultures, adding: “They better watch themselves”.

And he repeated his claim to us that Mrs May’s nemesis on Brexit, Boris Johnson, would make “a Great Prime Minister”.

Mr Trump twice ducked questions on whether he would sign a deal that did not allow agricultural produce to be exported here — a key part of Mrs May’s bid to follow all EU rules on farming and goods.

He also again refused to reveal the negotiating advice he had given Mrs May, saying: “I think maybe she found it too brutal.”

Downing Street aides were visibly relieved by Mr Trump’s climb down in the Chequers sunshine.

But showing her steel, Mrs May still unleashed a few sublte barbs on him.

The PM issued a thinly veiled warning to Trump over his loose talk, saying: “Let me say this about the wider transatlantic relationship.

“It is all of our responsibility to ensure that transatlantic unity endures. For it has been fundamental to the protection and projection of our interests and values for generations.”

On Brexit, she added: “I heard the turn of phrase the President used earlier. Let me be clear, we’re leaving the European Union”.

Mrs May said there is “no limit to the possibility of us doing trade deals around the world”, and she and the president had agreed to pursue an “ambitious” one.

The leaders held talks for two hours at Chequers on Brexit, as well as Iran and Russia, before an hour long working lunch.

Earlier, the pair had watched a demonstration of British and US Special Forces troops in action together, at Sandhurst.

Visibly impressed, Mr Trump said: “The talent of these young, brave, strong people was incredible.”

The White House had gone into full retreat to try to clear up the damage that he had caused with his explosive interview in The Sun.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement after it was published, saying: “The President likes and respects Prime Minister May very much.

"As he said in his interview with The Sun she 'is a very good person' and he 'never said anything bad about her.'”

A slew of senior Tories had earlier lined up to publicly attack the US President yesterday.

Universities Minister Sam Gyimah hit out: “Where are your manners Mr President?”, while Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said Mr Trump was “determined to insult” Ms May.

And ex-minster Nick Boles added: “I would no more take advice from Donald Trump on negotiating Brexit than I would on staying married or choosing a good hair dye. “

But Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan claimed it would not have affected Mr Trump’s dinner with Mrs May at Blenheim Palace on Thursday night.

He told the BBC: “Donald Trump is in many ways a controversialist, that’s his style, that’s the colour he brings to the world stage. And he is, in that sense, very unconventional. I don’t think we see it as rude. And I think the atmosphere last night at the Blenheim dinner was very, very special actually.”

Separately, Brexiteers lapped up Mr Trump’s savaging of Mrs May’s soft Brexit plans.

Senior backbencher Nigel Evans advised Mrs May to rip up her White Paper if it meant no US trade deal.

He said: “It does seem to me that not only have we got one foot in the European Union, we’ve got one foot in the grave. If it means we can’t do a comprehensive trade deal with America, if it means we can do no trade deal with America, then I think Theresa May needs to rip it up and think again.”

Arch-Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg said Mr Trump’s attack was “perfectly reasonable”.
He said: “This is very important, because if you can’t do a trade deal with your closest ally then who can you do one with?”

Mr Rees-Mogg once accused Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama of being “splendidly arrogant” after he urged Brits to vote Remain.

The Tory claimed at the time that “no true, honest Briton is going to be told what to do by a Yankee president”.

But he insisted yesterday that Mr Trumps comments were a “perfectly reasonable thing for an American president to say”.

He went on: “There’s no election going on at the moment, so it’s not trying to persuade us to do something in an election that we wouldn’t otherwise do.”

Ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage said Mr Trump’s intervention was “a bombshell to the establishment”.