London: US President Donald Trump refrained from giving his view on British politics but did endorse Prime Minister Boris Johnson indirectly as he arrived in the UK for a three-day visit to mark 70 years of the NATO amid the ongoing general election campaign.
“I have no thoughts on it. It’s going to be a very important election for this great country, but I have no thoughts on it. I could work with anybody,” he told reporters at a briefing at the US ambassador’s residence in London on Wednesday. Pressed further on why he was choosing to stay off the election topic, he said: “Because I don’t want to complicate it. I’ll stay out of the election.” “You know that I was a fan of Brexit. I called it the day before. I think Boris is very capable and I think he’ll do a good job.” Trump is in the UK for the NATO summit to be held in Watford, south-east England, on Wednesday and is also due to hold separate talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
A one-on-one meeting with Johnson is yet to be finalised, indicating the UK Prime Minister’s hesitation on being openly endorsed by the US President this close to the election on December 12 due to a feared divisive impact. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a vocal critic of the US President, has called for Trump to be treated with “respect and politeness” during his visit. He recently wrote to Trump, demanding assurances that the UK’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) will be “off the table” in any post-Brexit US-UK trade talks. The issue has dominated Labour’s allegations against the ruling Conservative Party, which is accused of plotting to sell NHS contracts to the US but Johnson has dismissed the claims were “nonsense”.
“If you handed it (NHS) to us on a silver platter, we want nothing to do with it,” Trump said when asked about the issue. Trump, who was last in the UK in June when Theresa May was in charge at 10 Downing Street, is expected to be greeted with protests once again but at a smaller scale as he attends a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday before the official NATO talks kick off.
NATO was founded after World War II to counter the threat of Soviet Union’s expansion, with its 29 member states pledging to come to the aid of one another should any come under attack. (PTI)
