PRESIDENT-ELECT Trump has promised a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and US will be “done very quickly”.

The incoming Commander-in-Chief made the commitment in an interview for The Times with failed Tory leadership candidate and prominent Brexiteer Michael Gove.

Despite being a week away from taking over the top job from Obama, Trump managed to find an hour last Friday to talk to the Aberdonian MP for Surrey Heath, alongside a reporter from German magazine Bild.

While Leave campaigners crowed at the billionaire’s backing for Brexit, others pointed out that the past proved Trump saying that he will do something doesn’t necessarily mean that he will actually do it.

At times it wasn’t exactly clear what Trump was promising.

“It’s very interesting how the UK broke away,” Trump told Gove. “I sort of, as you know, predicted it. I was in Turnberry and was doing a ribbon cutting because I bought Turnberry, which is doing unbelievably, and I’ll tell you, the fact that your pound sterling has gone down? Great. Because business is unbelievable in a lot of parts in the UK, as you know. I think Brexit is going to end up being a great thing.”

When asked if he thought if it would be possible to get a trade deal between the US and the UK quite quickly, he replied: “Absolutely, very quickly. I’m a big fan of the UK. We’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly – [which is] good for both sides.”

During the referendum Barack Obama said a Britain that voted for Brexit would be at the “back of the queue” when it came to a trade deal with the US.

Number 10 said Trump’s promise “highlights one of the opportunities of the UK leaving the EU”.

“We welcome the enthusiasm and energy the president-elect and his team are showing for engaging with the UK,” a spokeswoman for Theresa May said.

In the wide-ranging interview Trump said he believes Chancellor Angela Merkel made a “catastrophic mistake” when she threw open Germany’s borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants.

He also claimed his Scottish mother was “so proud of the Queen”. “Any time the Queen was on television, an event, my mother would be watching,” he said.

He joked his Scottish ancestry meant he liked to “watch my pennies”, adding: “I deal in big pennies, that’s the problem.”

Towards the end of the interview, Trump asks Gove: “How is our Nigel [Farage] doing? I like him, I think he’s a great guy, and he was very supportive. He’d go around the US saying Trump’s gonna win. He was one of the earliest people that said Trump was gonna win. So, he’s gotta feel for it. Michael, you should’ve written that we were gonna win.”

Gove replies: “Well, at least let me give you a copy of my book on how to fight terrorism.”

“Good, I’d love that. That’s fantastic – how to fight terrorism, I can use that,” Trump says.

The two men posed for a photo in front of a wall festooned with pictures of Trump. Gove gave a thumbs-up and grinned like a four-year-old meeting Santa at the local shopping centre grotto as the billionaire stood beside him.

Just behind the shoulder of the former Justice Secretary was a framed copy of the March 1990 edition of Playboy, featuring a fully clothed Trump and mostly naked playmate Brandi Brandt.

The cover is one of Trump’s favourites, and he often poses in front of it with guests for photos.

Gove was pilloried for the obsequious interview with the president-elect.

Labour MP Jess Phillips said: “Was told that you look a fool if you do thumbs up in a photo. Turns out if you do it next to a racist who hates women you look even worse.”

Trump will become President of the United States of America in three days' time.