UK prime minister: Trump's remarks about groping women are 'unacceptable'

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said in an interview published Sunday that Republican President-elect Donald Trump's remarks about sexually groping women against their will are "unacceptable."

TheHill.com said that May's remarks were published by Sky News less than 24 hours after Trump had tweeted about how much he's looking forward to meeting May -- a conservative who became the UK's highest elected official after Tory PM David Cameron resigned in 2016.

"I think that's unacceptable," May told Sky News when asked about remarks Trump made in 2005. In between takes for a segment on Access Hollywood, the live microphone Trump was wearing captured him talking about grabbing women "by the pu**y" against their will.

"When you're a star, they let you do it," he boasted to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush.

However, May said that Trump's public apology for the remarks salved her misgivings about him.

"But in fact Donald Trump himself has said that and has apologized for it," May said.

The U.K. has "a longstanding special relationship with the United States," May said, and she intends to honor it, although that does not mean uncritical acceptance of everything the U.S. does.

"It's based on shared values and it is a relationship where, actually in the U.K., we feel we can say to the U.S. if we disagree with something that they are doing," she said.

May and Trump are planning on a springtime summit meeting although not all of the details are currently in place.

On Saturday, the president-elect tweeted his excitement about meeting May.

"I look very much forward to meeting Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington in the Spring," Trump wrote. "Britain, a longtime U.S. ally, is very special!"