Meeting with US security chief amid spying row

Boris Johnson holding talks with senior members of President Trump’s team

Boris Johnson met Donald Trump’s national security adviser in Washington DC yesterday to attempt to draw a line under the diplomatic row sparked by claims Britain spied on the President, it is understood.

The foreign secretary met HR McMaster as part of a three-day visit in which he will also hold talks with congressional leaders and senior members of Mr Trump’s team, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior adviser Stephen Miller.

Suggestions that he would raise the spat sparked by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who repeated allegations that UK eavesdropping agency GCHQ spied on Mr Trump for Barack Obama, were played down.

Officials are believed to be satisfied by reassurances from Mr Spicer and White House officials that the US will not repeat the allegations, which were described by GCHQ as “utterly ridiculous”, in a rare public intervention.

During his visit, Mr Johnson will also attempt to make further steps towards a UK-US free trade deal after Brexit, with Prime Minister Theresa May committed to triggering Article 50 on March 29 to begin the two-year exit process.

He will travel to New York City tomorrow and chair a UN Security Council meeting on security in Somalia, famine and South Sudan.

The foreign secretary will also host a UN event on female empowerment around the world.

On Monday, NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers insisted his organisation did not ask GCHQ to spy on the candidate during his campaign.

Asked if President Trump making “baseless” claims against British security services damaged the close relationship between the two nations, Admiral Rogers said: “I think it clearly frustrates a key ally of ours.”

When pressed whether the incident would have a bad impact on security ties between the US and Britain, he said: “I believe that the relationship is strong enough ... this is something we will be able to deal with.”