British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reportedly met the US President-elect Donald Trump’s team on a trip to New York. The trip was described as ‘positive but frank’.
Who did he meet?
Unfortunately, Boris Johnson didn’t get to meet the busy President-elect. However, he met some of the close aides of Trump, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and strategist Steve Bannon. According to the BBC, the meeting was a ‘first normal face-to-face’ meeting with the incoming administration of the US.
Besides, Boris Johnson also met other Republican leaders such as Paul Ryan, Bob Corker and Mitch McConnell. Today, he will be seeing leaders in the US Congress as well.
The visit came very soon after Trump’s tweet about his anticipation to meeting the British counterpart, Theresa May. More interestingly, Boris visit became very ironic on himself. Following various comments related to London from Trump, Johnson had vowed that he wouldn’t go to New York to avoid a ‘real risk of meeting Donald Trump’. Perhaps, Boris didn’t have a clue that Trump could actually be the President.
Boris’ hostility against Trump had started in December 2015 after a controversial statement by Trump: We have places in London and other places that are so radicalized that the police are afraid for their own lives. We have to be very smart and very vigilant.
At the same time, Donald Trump had also talked about radicalized Islamic terrorism in Paris and other parts of Europe. However, no one expressed much concern.
What did they discuss?
Prior to the visit, a spokesman said, “The discussions will be focused on UK-US relations and other foreign policy matters.” While the exact subject matters of discussion haven’t been revealed, it’s likely that they discussed Trump policies on Syria, China and Russia.
In the meantime, Boris isn’t yet meeting Rex Tillerson, assumed Secretary of State. Perhaps, the talks would have been far more productive if the two could meet, following Rex’s appointment to the White House post.
