Trump hails Boris as a British version of him

Donald Trump has described Boris Johnson as a British version of himself, saying he’s a good man who’ll get the job of Brexit done.

US President Donald Trump jokes with Boris Johnson as Theresa May walks past during a NATO summit in 2017. Picture: AP

Donald Trump has offered Boris Johnson his highest possible praise by declaring the new Prime Minister the British version of himself.

“We have a really good man who’s going to be the Prime Minister of the UK now, Boris Johnson. Good man, he’s tough and he’s smart. They’re saying Britain Trump. They call him Britain Trump,” the US President told an audience of young Republicans in Washington.

“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.”

He went on to praise Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, who was attending the event. “I’ll tell you what, he got 32 per cent of the vote from nowhere, over in UK … thank you, Nigel,” Mr Trump said.

“I know he’s going to work well with Boris, they’re going to do some tremendous things.”

Mr Farage told The Times afterwards: “He (Mr Trump) thinks a Johnson-Farage alliance would be unstoppable and would deliver Brexit. He sees it very clearly. It would need Boris to be incredibly brave. He would have to call a general election and accept that a significant number of his own MPs would leave the party.

“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 Trump had made clear that he would welcome a Johnson victory, calling the former foreign secretary someone “I’ve liked for a long time”, as he criticised former leader Theresa May last month. The two men spoke by phone when Mr Trump was in London on his state visit.

John Hannah, of think tank Foundation for Defence of ­Democracies, said: “The relationship with Theresa May was always very frosty, very cool. The President obviously likes Johnson so I think things can only go on an upward trajectory here.”

In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron, who has ­described Mr Johnson and other campaigners for Brexit as liars, said he would call him after he took office today. “I want very much to work with him as quickly as possible and not just on Euro­pean subjects and the continuation of negotiations linked to Brexit but also on international issues on which we co-ordinate closely with Britain and Germany, like the situation in Iran,” he said.

He praised the “courage and dignity” of Mrs May and, in a veiled warning to Mr Johnson, said she had served British interests and the Brexit vote but “never blocked the functioning of the EU”.

Speaking alongside Mr Macron in Paris, Ursula von der Leyen, the newly appointed president of the European Commission, stressed the scale of difficulty over Brexit in the months ahead.

“I’m looking forward to having a good working ­relationship with him. There are many difficult issues we will tackle together. We have challenging times ahead of us,” she said.

Reflecting widespread hostility to Mr Johnson, Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EU’s health commissioner, compared the new Prime Minister with Boris Yeltsin, the first president of post-communist Russia, whose rhetoric and empty promises are blamed for the rise of Vladimir Putin. “A different Boris, of course, but there was something in the way of doing politics that was similar: many unrealistic promises, ignoring economic rationales and rational decisions,” he wrote.

Frans Timmermans, Jean-Claude Juncker’s deputy at the commission, who has described Mr Johnson as “borderline racist”, said although the EU would work with the “colourful” leader, there was no question of negotiating a new deal. Mr Johnson has ­demanded the Irish backstop be removed from the withdrawal agreement.

In Moscow, Alexei Pushkov, a pro-Kremlin senator, said Mr Johnson becoming Prime Minister signalled an imminent exit for Britain from the EU.

“Under Johnson, the break-up with the EU is inevitable,” he said.

The Times