He humiliates May by saying Boris would make great PM
THERESA MAY was humiliated yesterday as Mr Trump stood beside her at the press conference and said Boris Johnson would make a ‘great prime minister’.
She looked on stony-faced as he said Mr Johnson – who resigned as Foreign Secretary on Monday in protest at her Brexit plan – had been ‘very nice to me’.
In an earlier interview, the President described Mr Johnson as a ‘very talented guy’ – an apparent snub to Mrs May. Asked about his remarks yesterday, he piled on further praise. ‘They asked
‘He’s been very nice to me’
about Boris Johnson, how would he be as a prime minister I said he would be a great prime minister. He’s been very nice to me. He’s been saying very good things about me as president. I think he thinks I’m doing a great job. I am doing a great job, I can tell you, just in case you haven’t noticed.
‘Boris Johnson, I think, would be a great prime minister.’
He then turned to Mrs May and – apparently realising his blunder – said how much he admired her.
‘I also said this incredible woman right here is doing a fantastic job, a great job. And I mean that. And I must say I have got to know Theresa May much better over the last two days than I have known her over the last year and a half.’ Asked if Mr Johnson could be in No10 one day, he replied: ‘Well I am not pitting one against the other. I am just saying I think he would be a great prime minister. I think he’s got what it takes.’
Several ministers criticised Mr Trump. Culture minister Margot James said: ‘No, Mr President. Boris Johnson would make a terrible PM.’ Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said he seemed ‘determined to insult’ Mrs May.