Euro could collapse in 18 months, predicts Trump’s pick for EU ambassador

In an interview with the BBC, Malloch predicts the euro "could collapse" in the next 18 months.

"I think it is a currency that is not only in demise but has a real problem and could in fact collapse in the coming year, year and a half…The one thing I would do in 2017 is short the euro,” he told the British broadcaster.

"I am not the only person or economist of that point of view. Someone as acclaimed as Joseph Stiglitz - the World Bank economist - has written an entire book on this subject,” he added.

Malloch added that Washington and London could clinch a free trade deal within 90 days of the UK triggering Article 50 to leave the EU.

"I remind people that the largest merger and acquisition deals in history are often done in about that time frame," he said.

"Some of us who have worked on Wall Street or in the City know that if you get the right people in the right room with the right data and the right energy and Trump is certainly high energy, you can get things done,” Malloch added.

The US is expecting a "clean" Brexit from Britain. Once the UK is out of the single market, it could bypass "the bureaucrats in Brussels" and sign a free trade treaty with the US, Malloch said.

Not allowing Britain to talk about a trade agreement with the US is “absurd” and resembles a husband "trying to stop his wife having an affair," Malloch said.

"The fact is that when your wife is having an affair with someone else, you tell her to stop it, but oftentimes that doesn't stop the relationship," he said.

Brussels is demanding the UK not talk about trade deals until it leaves the EU.