Boris Johnson and Donald Trump agree Brexit offers 'unparalleled opportunity' for the special relationship

Jacob Jarvis27 July 2019
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Boris Johnson and Donald Trump both believe Brexit offers an "unparalleled opportunity" to strengthen the special relationship.

The pair agreed it could allow the economic partnership between the UK and United States to be developed, after they spoke on the phone on Friday evening.

"They discussed the important relationship between our countries and the president's successful State Visit to the UK last month," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

"They agreed that Brexit offers an unparalleled opportunity to strengthen the economic partnership between the UK and United States. The leaders both expressed their commitment to delivering an ambitious free trade agreement and to starting negotiations as soon as possible after the UK leaves the EU."

As well as this, the pair discussed tensions with Iran and the tactics being deployed to manage the situation in the gulf.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson - In pictures

PMQ session in London
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"The Prime Minister and the president also discussed the current tensions with Iran and the need to work together and with partners to address their destabilising behaviour in the Gulf. They ended by looking forward to seeing each other at the G7 Summit in Biarritz next month," the spokeswoman added.

Mr Trump has long been complimentary of the new PM, calling him "smart", "tough" and a "good guy".

He also said people described Mr Johnson as "Britain Trump".

Boris Johnson and Donald Trump spoke on the phone on Friday
AFP/Getty Images

This is a contrast to the relationship he had with Mr Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, who he frequently criticised towards the end of her tenure.

He was particularly damning when it came to her Brexit negotiations, stating she ignored his advice and then her own route proved a "disaster".

Details of the call came after Mr Johnson fundamentally ruled out a general election or second referendum as he promised once more to "deliver" upon Brexit.

The new Prime Minister, in his second full day in office, said he would "absolutely not" consider another major electoral event.

During a visit to Birmingham, he said: "The British people voted in 2015, in 2016, in 2017.

"What they want us to do is deliver on their mandate, come out of the EU on October 31."

Commenting on potential votes, he said: "They don't want another electoral event, they don't want a referendum, they don't want a general election.

"They want us to deliver."

His comments come after the Tory leader clashed with European figureheads, as he insisted the Irish backstop had to be abolished for a Brexit deal to pass Parliament.

In phone calls to high profile leaders French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he set out that the only way to make progress on a deal is to "abolish the backstop".

France's Europe minister insisted there would be no changes to the withdrawal agreement.

This followed Mr Johnson making the call to axe the backstop in the Commons, during his first speech to the House as PM on Thursday.

The backstop is an insurance policy contained within the draft EU withdrawal treaty which would have kept Northern Ireland in line with EU regulations to avoid extra checks at the Irish border.

It has been frequently criticised as a potential threat to the integrity of the UK, while it was a longstanding point of contention during Theresa May's premiership.

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