Boris Johnson has completely changed how he talks about Donald Trump
Foreign Secretary now says he is ‘excited’ by Republican's presidency – having previously called him ‘clearly out of his mind’
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has made a drastic U-turn over his position on Donald Trump after talks with the US President-elect’s senior advisers in New York.
Speaking after the meetings, the Foreign Secretary praised the Republican’s “exciting agenda for change” and promised a close working relationship between the UK Government and the Trump administration.
Mr Johnson had previously called the businessman “clearly out of his mind”, accused him of “quite stupefying ignorance” that makes him “unfit for office” and said he would not visit New York because of the “real risk of meeting Donald Trump”.
The apparent U-turn comes after the Foreign Secretary met Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s chief strategist and the former chairman of far-right website Breitbart News, and the President-elect’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in New York. He also met senior members of Congress in Washington, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan.
After the meetings, Mr Johnson heaped praise on Mr Trump and declared the UK would be “first in line” for a post-Brexit trade-deal with the US.
He said: “Clearly, the Trump administration-to-be has a very exciting agenda of change. One thing that won’t change, though, is the closeness of the relationship between the US and the UK.
“We are the number two contributor to defence in Nato. We are America’s principal partner in working for global security and, of course, we are great campaigners for free trade. We hear that we are first in line to do a great free trade deal with the United States. So, it’s going to be a very exciting year for both our countries.”
The reference to the UK being “first in line” could be seen as a rebuke to Barack Obama, who during the EU referendum campaign claimed Britain would be at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal with the US if it voted to leave the European Union. Mr Johnson backed the Leave side during the campaign.
The UK Government is determined to build a relationship with Mr Trump’s team following a rocky start. The President-elect spoke to 10 other world leaders after his election before having a conversation with Theresa May. He then suggested Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, should be appointed as the UK ambassador to the US.
Mr Johnson’s previous comments have not helped relations. After Mr Trump proposed a ban on Muslims entering the US and claimed some parts of London were no-go areas, the then Mayor of London said the Republican was “clearly out of his mind” and “betraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him unfit to hold the office of president of the United States”.
Mr Johnson’s trip to New York came as Theresa May admitted she found Donald Trump’s comments about women “unacceptable”.
Asked about the businessman’s boasts about sexually assaulting women, the Prime Minister said: “I think that’s unacceptable, but in fact Donald Trump himself has said that and has apologised for it.
“The relationship that the UK has with the United States is about something much bigger than just the relationship between the two individuals as president and prime minister.”
At the same time, Mr Trump tweeted he was looking forward to meeting Mrs May later this year. He said: “I look very much forward to meeting Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington in the Spring. Britain, a longtime U.S. ally, is very special!”
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