Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have arrived in Washington DC ahead of a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden.
Before leaving New York the Prime Minister welcomed US President Joe Biden’s new pledge to double US financial aid to help developing nations tackle the climate crisis.
Mr Johnson said Washington’s contribution of $11.4 billion annually by 2024 was a “very, very good start” towards his target of securing $100bn from world leaders, but warned “there’s still a long way to go.”
The Prime Minister will meet the US president in the Oval Office later today, having earlier arrived at Union Station in Washington DC by train.
The UK and US leaders are expected to discuss the climate crisis, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the prospect of “getting back on track” a UK / US trade deal.
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.”
Earlier today the British PM appeared on American NBC’s Today show, where he was quizzed on how many children he has. The PM described himself as a father-of-six and said he is expecting his seventh child with his wife Carrie.
In the same interview, Mr Johnson said it was “reasonable” that the US had decided to end its 20-year presence in Afghanistan on the grounds that “you can’t endlessly subcontract the government of your country to other people”, but added:
“Could we have done it a bit differently? Maybe we could.”
After meeting Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House, Mr Johnson will have dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Washington.
How can uk deal with Biden is a fraud President..Boris will sign us up to at this moment ccp Dems USA. God Help Uk .
Feel sick watching this pantomime.