Boris Johnson arrives at the White House for first visit as PM

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Boris Johnson mounted a charm offensive on Joe Biden tonight as he visited the White House for the first time as PM – but looks doomed to come away empty handed on the trade front.

The premier broke the ice in the Oval Office by telling Mr Biden that he took an Amtrak train from New York and people ‘love you’ – a reference to the president’s famous fondness for commuting by rail that earned him the nickname ‘Amtrack Joe’.

They also both enthused about the need for more action to tackle climate change, after the US announced a major boost in funding earlier. 

Mr Biden moved to reassure the UK that the case of Harry Dunn, who died in a road crash involving US diplomat Anne Sacoolas, is ‘being worked on’. 

However, there seemed little prospect of Mr Johnson getting his dearest wish of a trade deal from Mr Biden. ‘We are going to talk about trade a little bit today and we’re going to have to work that through,’ the president said vaguely. 

Mr Biden, who has strong Irish links, again made clear his concern that Brexit wrangling over Ulster’s trade rules could undermine the peace process. 

The lukewarm message came amid claims the UK is looking at joining the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as an apparent back door into American markets. 

Downing Street had been keen to use the imposing backdrop, where so many alliances between British and American leaders have been burnished. Mr Johnson said earlier that it is the ‘job of any Prime Minister of the UK to have a good relationship with the President of the United States’ – although he has also previously made clear he does not like the term ‘special relationship’. 

Aides will have been pleased with the mood music leading up to the encounter – only the second face-to-face since they took office, thanks to Covid. 

Mr Johnson has hailed Mr Biden’s announcement at the UN general assembly today that the US climate change finance will be doubled to $11.4billion per year, or £8.3billion. The move gives the PM a springboard for the COP26 summit this Autumn. 

No10 was also delighted that the American administration has finally eased the draconian travel restrictions on Britons crossing the Atlantic, in a surprise step yesterday. 

However, Mr Johnson has had to navigate some tricky moments, including having to defend the US decision to abandon Afghanistan to the Taliban – something that caused fury in the UK and friction between the two governments. 

The PM also tried to nullify another bone of contention today by taking a subtle jab at former President Donald Trump in an NBC interview. Mr Biden was so enraged by the closeness between the men that he once famously described Mr Johnson as a ‘physical and emotional clone’ of Mr Trump. 

Mr Biden did have some good news on trade as he suggested the ban on British lamb in the US could be lifted.

After Mr Johnson welcomed ‘great progress’ with the ban on British beef imports already having gone, the president added: ‘And we’re going to be working on lamb, too.’

But pressed on the Northern Ireland protocol and whether the post-Brexit arrangements might inhibit a trade deal, Mr Biden said he feels ‘very strongly’ that there should be no changes to the ‘Irish accords’ resulting in ‘a closed border’.

Asked about a UK-US trade deal, the US president told reporters in the Oval Office: ‘To do with the UK, that’s continuing to be discussed.

‘But on the (Northern Ireland) protocols I feel very strongly on those. We spent an enormous amount of time and effort, the United States, it was a major bipartisan effort made.

‘And I would not at all like to see, nor I might add would many of my Republican colleagues like to see, a change in the Irish accords, the end result having a closed border in Ireland.’

Mr Johnson broke in to say ‘on that point we are completely at one’. 

Brexiteers have been increasingly frustrated at the US administration’s refusal to recognise that the protocol itself poses a risk to the peace process.

The leaders said they would be discussing continuing co-operation on Afghanistan and in the Pacific during their meeting.

Mr Biden said the UN General Assembly had made clear that ‘climate must be the core focus’, with Mr Johnson set to make a speech about the need for global action at the UN on Wednesday.

Mr Johnson thanked the president for his speech at the UN which he said ‘made the difference on supporting the world to adapt to climate change’.

Mr Biden said he was going to be in Glasgow ‘with bells on’ to attend the Cop26 climate summit.

The US president said: ‘As we look ahead to the UK hosting Cop26, which I’m really anxious to attend in Glasgow in November.

‘We’re going to be there with bells on, as they say.’

They also briefly discussed the Aukus defence deal, with Mr Johnson adding that their relationship with Australia ‘has great potential to benefit the whole of the world’.

As so often with prime ministerial trips abroad, Mr Johnson has ended up having to field a crisis at home, with soaring gas prices sending energy firms bust and fears the knock-on effect on CO2 supplies could cause food shortages. 

Holding talks with Vice President Kamala Harris at her offices in the Eisenhower building earlier, Mr Johnson gushed that the two government were ‘cooperating at a higher and more intense level than at anytime I can remember’. 

Mr Johnson said: ‘Madame Vice President it’s a great honor and privilege for me to be here to meet you for the first time. 

‘I’ve heard a lot about you but it’s fantastic to be here and I want to thank the US government, your government, for the many ways in which we are cooperating now I think at a higher and more intense level than at anytime I can remember. 

‘I want to signal out the amazing work, the brave work, of the US military is helping the Kabul airlift. We could always done that without US leadership and I’m grateful for that.’

He also expressed gratitude for the new travel rules announced yesterday. ‘That’s great, that’s an improvement on the previous arrangements and thank you for your hard work on that.’

On trade, the PM said he was glad ‘your curious ban’ on British beef had been removed. ‘That’s a wonderful thing,’ he added.

And he said it had been a ‘really good day for the world’ with Mr Biden helping progress on climate change. 

‘I just want to say, Madame Vice President, Kamala, on climate change I think that today was a really good day for the world,’ he said.

‘And I thank the US government and President Biden for the steps you’ve taken to reassure the world that America is committed to helping to tackle climate change. And the last point we certainly shoulder to shoulder.’

Ms Harris said it was an ‘honour’ to welcome Mr Johnson to the White House.

‘As you will discuss with the president, the relationship between our two countries is a long and enduring one, one that we value based on shared priorities and based on as we know, what is increasingly evident about partnerships and alliances around the world,’ she said.

‘We are indeed interconnected and interdependent in so many ways and in many ways, more than before.’

She added: ‘And of course we must work and continue to work together to uphold and protect democratic principles and values around the globe. And we look forward to that continuing relationship, and our relationship as partners.’ 

Earlier, Mr Johnson said he has ‘plenty of reason to be optimistic’ about getting the free trade agreement (FTA) touted by Leave supporters as a major prize of departing the European Union but noted Americans ‘do negotiate very hard’.

His admission came after suggesting trade negotiations are not a priority for the US president, who he accepted has ‘a lot of fish to fry’.

Mr Johnson spoke to broadcasters on the terrace of a skyscraper in New York, where he has been attending a UN summit, before getting the train to Washington DC for his first visit to the White House since Mr Biden succeeded Donald Trump.

The Vote Leave figurehead downplayed the prospects of getting a trade deal by the next election, raising the possibility that he could leave Downing Street without achieving a key ambition for the post-Brexit era.

Asked if he would get the deal by 2024, the Prime Minister told Sky News: ‘We will keep going with free trade deals around the world including in the United States.

‘I have plenty of reason to be optimistic about that. But the Americans do negotiate very hard.’

New Foreign Secretary Liz Truss raised the stalled negotiations with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when they met in New York during the UN General Assembly yesterday.

She is understood to be considering the possibility of the UK joining the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

A diplomatic source said: ‘There are a variety of different ways to do this. The question is whether the US administration is ready.

‘The ball is in the US’s court. It takes two to tango.’

After finishing her duties at the UN, Ms Truss will travel to Mexico City to open a new British embassy. 

Mr Johnson heads to the White House having conceded Britain and the US could have possibly taken a different course over the withdrawal of troops of Afghanistan, with the president having rejected his calls to extend the deadline.

‘America has been there for 20 years and it’s a respectable argument to say that enough is enough. Look, I mean, could we have done it a bit differently? Maybe we could,’ the Prime Minister told American broadcaster NBC.

Mr Johnson is expected to discuss the stalled trade talks with Mr Biden, as well as what further efforts they can take to address the looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

The PM had pleaded with the president to push back his deadline for drawing down all US troops after the Taliban marched back to power.

But Mr Biden rejected the request, meaning potentially thousands of vulnerable Afghans who worked for the UK and their families were left behind.

Travelling on an Amtrak train to DC, Mr Johnson had been buoyed by the announcement the US will drop the blanket ban on travellers arriving from the UK due to the coronavirus crisis.

Just one day before the end of the ban was announced, Mr Johnson was downplaying to reporters any expectations that he could ‘crack’ the issue this week.

Aboard the RAF Voyager to New York, Mr Johnson also seemed negative about the prospect of getting a trade deal in place any time soon.

‘On the FTA, the reality is that Joe has a lot of fish to fry,’ Mr Johnson told reporters.

In the run-up to the EU referendum in 2016, then-president Barack Obama warned Britons they would be at the ‘back of the queue’ for any trade deal if they voted for Brexit.

The EU departure also presents a quandary to the Prime Minister’s relationship with Mr Biden, who is vocally proud of his Irish heritage and has warned there will be no trade deal if peace in Northern Ireland is jeopardised by the EU departure.

A major diplomatic row has also broken out over a new military pact between the UK, US and Australia because it scuppered a multibillion-dollar contract for France to provide submarines to Australia.

France took the extraordinary step of recalling its ambassadors to Washington and Canberra, but declined to do the same from London, accusing the UK of being America’s lapdog.

After meeting Mr Biden and Ms Harris in the White House, Mr Johnson will have dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Washington.

In an interview with NBC he admitted the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last month, which allowed a swift extremist takeover could ‘maybe’ have been handled better.

But he suggested it was time for the Afghan people to run their own country instead of relying on the West.

Asked about his past closeness with Mr Trump, Mr Johnson said: ‘What I will say about Joe Biden, dealing with the new American president, yes it is a breath of fresh air in the sense that there are some things on which we can really, really work together.’

He singled out Mr Biden’s stance on climate change, commending the president for doing a ‘great’ job.

‘He’s great on that,’ Mr Johnson said. ‘He wants to cut CO2, he wants to net zero by 2050, and he shares with me a basic view that you can do this without penalising the economy.’  

Eight months into his presidency, Biden has been out of sync with allies on the chaotic ending to the US war in Afghanistan. 

He has faced differences over how to go about sharing coronavirus vaccines with the developing world and over pandemic travel restrictions. And there are questions about the best way to respond to military and economic moves by China.

Mr Biden also finds himself in the midst of a fresh diplomatic spat with France, the United States’ oldest ally, after announcing plans – along with Britain – to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

The move is expected to give Australia improved capabilities to patrol the Pacific amid growing concern about the Chinese military’s increasingly aggressive tactics, but it upended a French defense contract worth at least $66 billion to sell diesel-powered submarines to Australia.