Donald Trump backs Boris Johnson to get a new Brexit deal as he heads to Berlin for crunch talks with Angela Merkel
DONALD Trump has thrown his weight behind Boris Johnson to get a new Brexit deal with Brussels – as the PM heads to Berlin for crunch talks with Angela Merkel.
The President insisted hours before the trip that Boris was the “right person in charge” and was “going to do a fantastic job”.
Speaking last night in the Oval Office he said in a swipe at ex-PM Theresa May: “I think that the UK has the right man in charge now – the right person in charge, in the form of Boris.
“I think he’s going to be a great prime minister.
“I think he’s going to do a fantastic job.
“A lot of people know that we have a very good relationship. I think he’ll be far superior, I think… he’s going to be very important for the UK.”
He said the EU were “driving a hard bargain” and “dealing with the EU is very difficult”.
The pair spoke for the fourth time since Boris was elected, on the phone on Monday evening where they discussed Brexit, a future trade deal and other matters.
The President’s supportive comments come as Boris is about to fly to Germany to urge the EU to chuck out the hated backstop and finally seal a deal.
Last night he vowed to tackle the negotiations with a lot of “oomph” and insisted he would be able to persuade the bloc to ditch it.
“We can’t have this backstop. I am going to make the point that the backstop is going to come out.”
He’s expected to tell the Germany Chancellor that rebel MPs won’t be able to stop a No Deal Brexit in Parliament when MPs come back next month.
Boris thinks that the EU are holding off on giving us anything until they wait and see if Remainers are successful in stopping us leaving without a deal.
But while Angela Merkel said last night that “practical solutions” can still be found, it’s expected that she will rebuff his demands to ditch the backstop altogether.
Former UK ambassador to Germany, Thomas Matussek, said this morning that Boris was in for a “nasty surprise” if he was expecting a last-minute change of heart.
He told Radio 4: “She is absolutely not going to give way on [the backstop] because can’t. That is a core of the EU, that is the four freedoms.”
And he said that the bloc valued its own stability ahead of anything else – even if that meant damaging its own economy.
John Redwood MP said the EU’s refusal to re-open the deal meant that they were “backing our exit without it”.
He said: “The PM should talk to them about free trade talks once we leave.
“If they agree, that could mean no new tariffs and barrier after October 31 exit whilst we discuss an FTA.”
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Brussels now appears to be putting Britain on track for a No Deal Brexit after slamming Boris’ request as “unrealistic” and his claims as “misleading”.
Yesterday EU boss Donald Tusk launched a furious attack on Boris, accusing him of misleading the public over his comments about the Northern Irish border.
The European Commission boss tweeted: “The backstop is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found.
“Those against the backstop and not proposing realistic alternatives in fact support reestablishing a border. Even if they do not admit it.”
And Guy Verhofstadt added: “I don’t see any majority in the @Europarl_EN to remove the backstop from the Withdrawal Agreement.
“It is a vital insurance policy, negotiated in good faith & supported by the people of the Island of Ireland. The time for bluster & political blame games is fast running out.”
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