HE’S GONNA BE BRITAIN’S TRUMP
Who says so? The President, as he hails Boris and says he’ll do ‘tremendous things’ with Farage
DONAlD Trump heaped praise on Boris Johnson last night – claiming he will do a ‘good job’ as prime minister because he is Britain’s answer to himself.
The President tweeted his congratulations just minutes after Mr Johnson’s election as Tory leader was announced, later hailing him as ‘Britain’s Trump’.
At a rally afterwards, he suggested Mr Johnson and Nigel Farage would be working closely together and predicted they will do ‘some tremendous things’.
Such heartfelt congratulations from a US president would usually be welcomed by an incoming prime minister.
But following Mr Trump’s race row with four ethnic minority congresswomen this month, his support is now even more controversial than previously. Mr Johnson had declined to call him ‘racist’.
Yesterday Mr Trump tweeted: ‘Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!’
He later told a crowd that Mr Johnson is a ‘good man,’ adding: ‘He’s tough and he’s smart. They’re saying Britain Trump. They call him Britain Trump.
‘And people are saying that’s a good thing. They like me over there. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they need. He’ll get it done. Boris is good, he’s going to do a good job.’
Mr Farage was in the crowd for the President’s rally where he was pointed out by Mr Trump, who said: ‘He’s going to work well with Boris. They’re going to do tremendous things.’
last night it emerged Mr Trump had met the Brexit Party leader in the US and allegedly praised a ‘Johnson-Farage alliance’. Mr Farage reportedly told The Times: ‘He [Mr Trump] thinks a Johnson-Farage alliance would be unstoppable and would deliver Brexit. He sees it very clearly.
‘I have said my levels of trust in Boris and the Conservative Party are very low, but if he really means it and is absolutely determined to deliver a clean-break Brexit then of course I’d talk to him.’ Mr Farage had yesterday offered Mr Johnson his help in delivering Brexit. Writing in The Telegraph, he urged the new Tory leader to call an autumn election and enter into an alliance with his party.
However, Mr Johnson last week ruled out a deal with the party.
Mr Farage wrote: ‘The country is crying out for leadership and a resolution to the Brexit crisis. For this strategy to work, he will need the support of the Brexit Party.’
Praise for Mr Johnson came from other US political leaders. Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, echoed Mr Trump by tweeting: ‘Boris Johnson is the Donald Trump of Britain.’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered ‘heartfelt congratulations from Jerusalem’ while Iran’s foreign minister congratulated Mr Johnson, despite tensions between the two nations over the tanker crisis in the Gulf. Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted: ‘I congratulate my former counterpart.’
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on the new Tory leader to listen to business interests – including those of Japanese firms – to mitigate the impact of Brexit.
Reacting to Mr Trump’s remarks, liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson tweeted: ‘I mean, Boris Johnson is basically what you’d get if you sent Donald Trump to Eton.’
Meanwhile Ivanka Trump and was widely mocked for her own warm words – after she welcomed Mr Johnson as the next prime minister of the ‘United Kingston’.
The misspelled tweet was up for half an hour before being deleted.