New York: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has met Donald Trump’s close advisers and congressional leaders here in the first formal meeting between a UK minister and the President-elect’s team.
Johnson, a former mayor of London who had campaigned for Brexit, held talks with senior members of Trump’s team yesterday as part of building ties with the incoming US administration, Financial Times reported.
He met Trump’s inner team including chief strategist Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, the President-elect’s son-in-law.
The talks covered foreign policy issues and will have helped prepare for May’s visit to the White House which is expected next month, the report said.
Today, Johnson will meet Congressional leaders in Washington, including Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator Bob Corker and Senator Mitch McConnell.
“Following the successful meeting last month between the prime minister’s chiefs of staff and President-elect Donald Trump’s team, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is undertaking a short visit to the US for meetings with close advisers to the President-elect and senior congressional leaders,” a spokesman for Johnson’s office said.
“The discussions will be focused on UK-US relations and other foreign policy matters,” CNN reported.
Johnson, a member of the UK’s Conservative Party, may find Trump’s team more in line with his views and style than that of US President Barack Obama.
In the run-up to the November 8 US presidential elections, the British Foreign Secretary had defended Trump from criticism in Europe.
Trump said earlier this weekend that Theresa May, who became British Prime Minister after the resignation of David Cameron in the wake of the Brexit vote, would visit him in the coming months.
“I look very much forward to meeting Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington in the Spring. Britain, a longtime U.S. ally, is very special!” Trump has tweeted.
PTI
