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Boris leaving Trump? Downing Street ‘dismissing the president’s chances of being reelected in November and focusing attention on courting rival Joe Biden’ amid fears of a trade deal with the United States under the Democratic government
Boris Johnson’s team has begun courting US Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden after allegedly giving up Donald Trump’s chances of re-election.
Downing Street is said to have turned its gaze to the 77-year-old amid signs that he is developing a commanding lead over Trump in the polls.
With only 22 days to go, there are fears for the future progress of talks on a trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom that has been carried out by the Secretary of International Trade, Liz Truss.
Biden previously warned that Johnson’s attempts to undo part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement related to Northern Ireland could cause the UK to shelve the talks if he is in charge.
Trump has returned to the White House after being briefly hospitalized with Covid-19. Last night he removed his mask and told a crowd of hundreds of fans outside the White House ‘I feel great’ and that the coronavirus is ‘disappearing’ at its first public event.
But a high-ranking conservative told the Sunday Times: ‘Now they are writing Trump off at No. 10.’
Biden previously warned that Johnson’s attempts to undo part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement related to Northern Ireland could cause the UK to shelve the talks if he is in charge.
Trump removed his mask and told the crowd of hundreds of fans ‘I feel great’ last night at his first public event at the White House since his COVID diagnosis.
Last month, Biden used social media to attack the prime minister’s attempt to give ministers the power to undo part of the Withdrawal Agreement signed last year.
The Internal Market Act (IMB) allows the government to override the sections related to the state of Northern Ireland after the end of the year.
But in his first direct speech on the matter since he became the Democratic challenger, Biden warned that the measure, which would violate international law if enacted, would threaten the UK-US trade deal currently being negotiated.
The agreement has to be ratified by the US Congress, and the Democrats who control the lower House of Representatives have already threatened to halt its progress.
Biden tweeted: ‘We cannot allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a victim of Brexit. Any trade agreement between the US and the UK must depend on respecting the Agreement and preventing the return of a firm border. Period.’
But his comments sparked an uproar of anger among the conservative Brexiteer.
The Trump administration has shown more flexibility, although there is disagreement over food safety standards.
Last night, President Trump spoke for just 17 minutes on his long-awaited return to the re-election campaign.
During his unusually short speech about ‘sleepy Joe’, he claimed that he has accomplished great things for Black communities across America and attacked Black Lives Matter protesters as ‘left-wing fanatics’.
This is the first major White House event since the ‘superpreader’ event at the Rose Garden on September 26, where Trump unveiled Amy Coney Barrett as his Supreme Court pick and at least nine attendees later tested positive for the virus.
It comes as Trump vowed to return to normal after being hospitalized last week for COVID-19, defying social distancing and quarantine rules.
