Johnson denies dodging Trump in London

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied on Wednesday he was avoiding being pictured with Donald Trump ahead of a UK election next week, as footage emerged of other leaders mocking the US president.

Johnson met Trump away from the cameras on Tuesday before a two-day Nato summit, avoiding the media fanfare.

He also failed to publicly greet Trump and his wife Melania on the doorstep of Downing Street before a reception with other Nato leaders.

Johnson’s Conservatives are wary of what Trump might say during his two-day visit, with Britain set to go to the polls on December 12.

They are leading opinion polls but the rival Labour Party has sought to whip up public opinion against Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Britain.

In a media conference on Tuesday, the president promised to “stay out” of the election campaign, but

still managed to endorse Johnson as “very capable” and intervene in a row over US interests in Britain’s state-run National Health Service (NHS) after Brexit.

Arriving for the formal Nato talks in Watford, north of London, on Wednesday, Johnson denied he was trying to avoid being seen with Trump.

He later posed with Trump for an official welcome alongside Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Johnson has held up a new US trade deal as one of the prizes of pulling off Brexit, but has faced accusations that this will open up the much-loved NHS to US firms.

Johnson denies this, and Trump said his country would not be interested in the NHS “if you handed it to us on a silver platter”.

Officials were braced for Trump to become more loquacious in a media conference after the Nato talks — particularly after footage emerged apparently showing other leaders laughing at him.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted that Trump’s press conference had run on as he commented on everything from “nasty” Macron’s criticism of Nato as brain dead, to “delinquent” European countries that failed to meet defence spending targets.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, an amused Trudeau said. “You just watched his team’s jaw drop to the floor.”