BORIS Johnson has said claims he’d been taking the mickey out of Donald Trump with fellow world leaders were “complete nonsense”.
The US president was reportedly furious yesterday morning after video footage emerged of the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron and Princess Anne at a Buckingham Palace reception, supposedly mocking the American’s lengthy approach to press conferences.
The notoriously thin-skinned commander-in-chief described the Canadian premier as “two-faced”. Trump then cut short his attendance at the Nato summit, cancelling a press event.
In the footage, Johnson asks Macron: “Is that why he was late?”
Trudeau interjects: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”
He adds: “Oh, yeah, yeah yeah. He announced … ” before he is cut off by Macron, who speaks animatedly to the group.
Macron’s back is to the camera and his words are inaudible.
The film later shows an incredulous Trudeau telling the group: “You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”
When the US president was asked about Trudeau’s apparent remarks, he replied: “Well, he’s two-faced.”
He then said it was likely because he had criticised Canada for not meeting the Nato target of spending 2% of its GDP on defence.
Trump said: “I find him to be a very nice guy, but you know the truth is that I called him out the fact that he’s not paying 2% and I can see he’s not very happy about it. He’s not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%. Canada – they have money.”
The US president later tweeted: “When today’s meetings are over, I will be heading back to Washington … We won’t be doing a press conference at the close of Nato because we did so many over the past two days. Safe travels to all!”
Asked about the video footage at his own press conference, Johnson shook his head and said: “That’s complete nonsense. I don’t know where that’s come from.”
Pressed again, he said: “I really don’t know what’s being referred to there.”
Though it overshadowed the Nato conference, Trump’s quick exit and cancelling of the press conference avoids any difficult questions for Johnson about the American’s interest in the NHS.
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell accused the president of having a “passing relationship with reality and truth” when it came to the health service.
Asked if Trump is lying when he says he is not interested in the NHS being on the table during trade talks, McDonnell said: “All the evidence that we’ve seen has demonstrated objectively that it is.
“Donald Trump has a passing relationship with reality and truth sometimes. I believe in one instance claimed he didn’t know what the initials NHS stood for, so the reality is the evidence is there and the anxiety that we have about the NHS under Boris Johnson regime and his relationship with Trump causes us extreme concern.”
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the election campaign trail, an Extinction Rebellion protester dressed as a bee, glued himself to the windscreen of the LibDem campaign battle bus.
The campaign group said the protest was being carried out to “remind politicians of the irreplaceable biodiversity loss that is a direct result of their poor, irresponsible policy-making.”
“Activists wanted to plant the plight of bees and other pollinators fully in the minds of the next prime minister and to remind them that they hold the future of life in their hands.
“Our bee population is being threatened by extreme weather and habitat destruction, bringing with it crop instability and food vulnerability.”
LibDem leader Jo Swinson said it was good to talk to the bee man, but pointed out that the bus was electric.
Elsewhere, the Brexit Party has confirmed it has removed the whip from MEP John Longworth, the former director general of the British Chamber of Commerce.
The party’s chief whip and MEP Brian Monteith accused Longworth of having “undermined” Nigel Farage’s General Election strategy.
In Bury, former Labour minister Ivan Lewis has asked his old constituents vote Tory – even though he is standing as an independent candidate.
He said: “It is now clear that the best way to stop Corbyn in Bury South is to vote Conservative”.
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