Obama confident in ‘orderly transition’ after Brexit

Obama’s comments came in a written statement issued by the White House while the president was traveling in California.

President Barack Obama said Friday the United States respects Britain’s decision to pull out of the European Union, and that both Britain and the EU will remain “indispensable partners” of the U.S.

Obama welcomed entrepreneurs around the world to the United States, pointing to the growing businesses around the interconnected world.

Separately, Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde urged authorities in the United Kingdom and Europe to “work collaboratively to ensure a smooth transition to a new economic relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, including by clarifying the procedures and broad objectives that will guide the process”.

He had warned that close North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Britain would be “in the back of the queue” for a trade deal with the United States if it dropped out of the European Union, but opinion did not swing in favor of the “Remain” campaign. “The EU will remain one of our indispensable partners”, Obama said.

Barack Obama reassured UK Prime Minister David Cameron that the special relationship between the two nations and Britain’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership would continue to be fundamental to U.S. policies.

The Brexit result rattled Wall Street and many other financial markets, with global stock markets losing about $2 trillion (£1.46 trillion) in value on Friday.

Obama traveled to London in April to make his case to United Kingdom voters in person.

“I must say we had looked for a different outcome”.

The historic divorce launched by the Brexit vote could sink hopes of a massive U.S.-EU free trade deal before Obama leaves office in January.