US president hails Boris Johnson as ‘Britain Trump’ ... but will the bromance last?
- US leader was quick to congratulate Johnson for winning race to be British PM, and called the former London mayor ‘Britain Trump’
- Chemistry between the two has been touted as a chance to reboot ‘special relationship’ between Britain and US, but volatile pair may find it hard to get along
The much-vaunted chemistry between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump has been touted as a chance to reboot the “special relationship” between Britain and the United States, but the mercurial pair may find it harder than expected to get along.
The US president was quick to congratulate “Boris” after the former mayor of London won the race to become Britain’s new prime minister on Tuesday. “He will be great!” Trump tweeted.
That enthusiasm was in marked contrast to comments he had made about Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, who he said in a previous tweet had done “a very poor job” on Brexit.
Ties between the traditional allies had waned under Trump and May, reaching a low point with the resignation of the British ambassador to Washington, Kim Darroch, whose leaked diplomatic cables described the Trump administration as “inept”.
But Johnson, who was born in New York, “represents a distinctly pro-American outlook with a deep-seated affinity for the transatlantic alliance”, said Nile Gardiner, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher who now works at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank.