Stressful week, Barack? Why not take a trip to NZ...
A Barack Obama visit to New Zealand is not a matter of if, but when, and it could still be happen during his presidency.
That’s the message from US Ambassador Mark Gilbert, who has placed a presidential visit firmly back on the table.
And after the 10 days the outgoing leader of the free world has just experienced, it might be just the break he needs.
‘‘The president and his family all want to come,’’ he said. ‘‘It was just a question of when that would be a possibility. Whether he comes before he leaves office or after he leaves office, I do believe that he will come to New Zealand,’’ said Gilbert. Before his term ends? ‘‘You just don’t know.’’ Relations between New Zealand and United States have reached a pivotal stage, with Secretary of State John Kerry touching down in New Zealand again last night, and the resumption of close military cooperation with the arrival of the USS Sampson in Auckland on Thursday. Vice president Joe Biden made a flying visit in July.
But the uncertainty of a Donald Trump presidency could yet cast a pall over the increasingly friendly relations between the two countries.
The sight of Air Force One touching down would be a welcome sight for Prime Minister John Key, who has enjoyed a close friendship with Obama since the two played golf in Hawaii in 2014.