South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
After praising Trump, UK’s Johnson seeks to bond with Biden
LONDON — Boris Johnson’s famous charm worked wonders on Donald Trump, but he faces a tougher audience in Joe Biden.
Britain’s prime minister promised Sunday to work with the U.S. presidentelect to spread democracy, defend human rights and combat climate change, as he sought to woo a leader who sees the world very differently to the outgoing American leader.
In an interview with The Associated Press. Johnson stressed the strength of trans-Atlantic ties, saying the two countries’ “common global perspective” would be vital to shore up a rules-based global order that is under threat.
“The United States is our closest and most important ally,” said Johnson, who hasn’t yet spoken to Biden since he became presidentelect. “And that’s been the case under president after president, prime minister after prime minister. It won’t change.”
It won’t change, but it may be strained. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, a cause Johnson championed, and Trump’s election happened within a few months of each other in 2016.
Biden has called the British leader a “clone” of Trump, and has warned that Brexit will leave Britain’s status “diminished.”
Johnson on Sunday stressed his commitment to internationalism, particularly in the fight against climate change, an issue where he and Biden share a common view. While Trump has dismissed the threats posed by a changing climate and pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord — a decision Biden says he will reverse — Johnson aims to reduce U.K. carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
“I think now with President Biden in the White House in Washington, we have the real prospect of American global leadership in tackling climate change,” said Johnson.
Britain had been hoping to secure a quick trade agreement with the U.S. after its official departure from the EU in January. The change in administration in Washington leaves prospects of a deal uncertain.
Biden, who is fiercely proud of his Irish roots, has warned there will be no deal if contentious Brexit-related legislation planned by Johnson’s government undermines Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday peace accord.