UK election 2019: can Trump keep his nose out of British politics on London visit?
- London is reeling from a terror attack as it welcomes Donald Trump this week for a Nato summit
- UK PM Boris Johnson will be hoping Trump doesn’t say anything that hinders his lead ahead of December 12 election
US President Donald Trump is under pressure from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resist the temptation to wade into the British election campaign during his London visit for the Nato summit.
As a presidential candidate in 2016 and then as president since early 2017, Trump has shown no restraint in showing support for Britain’s exit from the European Union and critiquing the politicians involved in the country’s long-running Brexit debate.
But with Johnson leading polls as he faces December 12 elections, the prime minister who is hosting the London Nato summit wants Trump to mind the guard-rails, putting Trump in the unusual position of trying to avoid his normal impulse to comment on whatever he wishes.
Trump waded into the election in October by saying opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would be “so bad” for Britain and that Johnson should agree on a pact with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.
Johnson’s pressure prompted the White House to stress, as a senior administration official said, that Trump “is absolutely cognisant of not, again, wading into other country’s elections”.