British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday held his first face -to- face talks with Donald Trump since taking office, with the US President backing him as the “ right man” to deliver Brexit for Britain .
Trump and Johnson met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven ( G 7 ) summit hosted by France in Biarritz . Asked what his advice was for Brexit , Trump replied : “ He ( Johnson) needs no advice, he is the right man for the job.”
“ I’ ve been saying that for a long time ,” added Trump , noting that such comments had not made his predecessor Theresa May happy while she was still in office up to July .
Johnson had in the run – up to the meeting urged Trump to remove the “ considerable barriers ” for UK companies seeking to export to the American market , saying they risked impeding a free -trade deal after Brexit .
But the American president said : “ We ’ re working on a very big trade deal ( with Britain ) and I think it ’s going to work out . ”
He boasted that a “ a very big trade deal , bigger than we’ve ever had ” would be realised “ quickly ” .
Johnson congratulated Trump on the strength of the US economy which he said was “ fantastic” . But while holding back from strong criticism, he expressed alarm over the trade tensions between the US and China .
“ Just to register a faint , sheep -like note of our view on the trade war — we are in favour of trade peace on the whole ,” Johnson told Trump .
Johnson added : “ The UK has profited massively in the last 200 years from free trade . ”
Trump also said the US is “ very close to a major deal with Japan .” He said the two sides have “ been working on it for five months . ”
He was speaking shortly before holding talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G 7 summit.
The two sides have “ been working on it for five months ,” he told reporters .
Credit: AFP
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