Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is attempting to rectify his relationship with the President-elect after making a series of disparaging remarks during the US election.
Mr Boris Johnson is currently in Brussels attending a meeting with EU Foreign Ministers, where he told reporters:
“I think there is a lot to be positive about and it is very important not to prejudge the president-elect or his administration.
“It’s only a few days since the election has taken place. I think we all need to wait and see what they come up with. But I think we should regard it as a moment for opportunity.”
He continued to praise Mr Trump’s capabilities, stating that:
“Donald Trump is a dealmaker and I think that could be a good thing for Britain, but it could also be a good thing for Europe and that I think is what we need to focus on today.”
This marks a significant U-turn on his highly critical comments regarding Trump that he made earlier in the year.
“I think he’s betraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him frankly unfit to hold the office of President of the United States.
“I would invite him to come and see the whole of London and take him round the city – except I wouldn’t want to expose any Londoners to any unnecessary risk of meeting Donald Trump.” the former Mayor of London said previously.
Former UKIP leader and occasional Trump advisor, Nigel Farage, has thus far been the first British politician to meet with the future President of the United States. Many have seen this as a slight against the May administration.
Mr Farage tweeted following the encounter:
It was a great honour to spend time with @realDonaldTrump. He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I’m confident he will be a good President. pic.twitter.com/kx8cGRHYPQ
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 12, 2016
Mr Farage, pictured above in front of Mr Trump’s gold elevator, has praised 2016 as the year of a “political revolution” in which “ordinary” people reject the political elites. He commented:
“What you’ve seen this year is just ordinary, decent people, the little people, who’ve said, ‘We’ve had enough. We want change.”
This comes amidst concerns that under the Trump administration the so-called ‘special relationship’ may be under threat after the President-elect allegedly reached out to nine world leaders prior to Prime Minister Theresa May.