LONDON: Britain’s invitation to US president Donald Trump should not be rescinded, British foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday, stressing that the United States is an important ally.
“I don’t believe that is sensible,” Johnson said when asked by an opposition lawmaker what it would take for the invitation for a state visit, accepted by Trump last year, to be withdrawn.
“The United States is our closest, most important security, and indeed economic, partner and will continue to be so.”
It is not the first time Johnson has defended the prospect of a visit from the US president. The foreign minister backed London mayor Sadiq Khan’s calls for London residents not to feel alarmed about extra presence of police officers on the streets following terrorist attacks in 2017m despite the US president’s verbal attacks on Khan and misrepresentation of terrorism in the UK capital.
The US ambassador to the UK has said he expects Trump to go ahead with a working visit to the UK in the coming months, despite Trump getting involved in a Twitter row with Theresa May over terror threats in the UK last year.
Trump has previously told May that he did not want to come on a state visit if there were “large-scale protests.” The UK House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has said the president would not be welcome to speak to both houses of parliament, an honor typically given to prestigious overseas politicians.
A separate lawmaker asked Johnson about a claim by US author Michael Wolff, made in a Sunday newspaper interview, that Trump saw Queen Elizabeth "in reality show terms" and would try to "Trumpalise" her. Wolff did not explain what that word meant.
Johnson replied: "I think Her Majesty the Queen is well capable of taking this American president, or indeed any American president, in her stride, as she has done over six remarkable decades. She has seen them come, and she has seen them go."
During the Queen's 65-year reign there have been 13 US Presidents, starting with Harry S. Truman. No date has been set for a Trump visit.
“I don’t believe that is sensible,” Johnson said when asked by an opposition lawmaker what it would take for the invitation for a state visit, accepted by Trump last year, to be withdrawn.
“The United States is our closest, most important security, and indeed economic, partner and will continue to be so.”
It is not the first time Johnson has defended the prospect of a visit from the US president. The foreign minister backed London mayor Sadiq Khan’s calls for London residents not to feel alarmed about extra presence of police officers on the streets following terrorist attacks in 2017m despite the US president’s verbal attacks on Khan and misrepresentation of terrorism in the UK capital.
The US ambassador to the UK has said he expects Trump to go ahead with a working visit to the UK in the coming months, despite Trump getting involved in a Twitter row with Theresa May over terror threats in the UK last year.
Trump has previously told May that he did not want to come on a state visit if there were “large-scale protests.” The UK House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has said the president would not be welcome to speak to both houses of parliament, an honor typically given to prestigious overseas politicians.
A separate lawmaker asked Johnson about a claim by US author Michael Wolff, made in a Sunday newspaper interview, that Trump saw Queen Elizabeth "in reality show terms" and would try to "Trumpalise" her. Wolff did not explain what that word meant.
Johnson replied: "I think Her Majesty the Queen is well capable of taking this American president, or indeed any American president, in her stride, as she has done over six remarkable decades. She has seen them come, and she has seen them go."
During the Queen's 65-year reign there have been 13 US Presidents, starting with Harry S. Truman. No date has been set for a Trump visit.
