Biden heads to UK for Queen’s funeral to meet Liz Truss
Britain has a new prime minister and a new monarch. How will our relationship with America change?
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will head to the UK on Saturday, pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II With both a new royal family and a new prime minister settling in, US-British relations are in a period of transition.
hawkish approach Prime Minister Liz Truss Russia and China put her on the same page as Biden. But the rise of the 47-year-old Truss, who once called U.S.-U.K. relations “special but not exclusive,” reveals transatlantic partnerships on trade and more It is possible to carve a new chapter.
A major concern for Biden officials early in Truss’ premiership is her support for legislation that would shred some of the post-Brexit trade deals in Northern Ireland. Analysts say the move could cause serious tensions between the UK and the European Union and undermine peace in Northern Ireland. White House spokesperson Carine Jean-Pierre said the move “does not create a conducive environment” for crafting the long-awaited US-UK trade deal that Truss and her Conservative Party crave. .
Max Bergmann, head of the European program at the Center for Strategy, said: “She suggests that she is willing to trample on the issue, and that there are rifts not only between the UK and the EU, but also between the UK and the US. will occur,” he said. Former senior State Department official in the Department of International Studies in Washington and the Obama administration. “It’s what keeps the White House up at night.”
Biden and Truss were scheduled to meet on Sunday, but the prime minister’s office said on Saturday it would skip the weekend greetings and instead opt for a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, due to the royal funeral. The White House approved a UN conference just as the president boarded his Air Force One.
Two close allies are currently facing a period of political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic. Much like Biden in his 70s, King Charles III faces questions from the public about whether his age limits his ability to faithfully carry out his monarchical duties.
Charles, 73, and Biden, 79, attended a summit in Glasgow, Scotland last year to discuss global cooperation on the climate crisis. They also met at Buckingham Palace in June 2021 at a reception hosted by the Queen prior to the World Summit in Cornwall.
Does Truss, like Biden, have the power to improve a country hit by stubborn inflation from the coronavirus pandemic, and worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine wreaking havoc on global energy markets? I am faced with the question of how
All the while, Britain — and the rest of Europe — has been wondering what the next U.S. midterm elections will bring him, after pledging to be a full partner with the international community when he took office, saying that “America is back.” I am watching carefully. The community four years after Republican Donald Trump pushed for an “America First” worldview.
Barbara A. Perry, Chancellor’s Director of Research at the University of Virginia Miller Center, said: She added: We don’t know what will happen in 2024. ”
Mr. Truss, a former accountant who was first elected to Congress in 2010, did not interact much with Mr. Biden. The US president called her earlier this month to congratulate her. As secretary of foreign affairs, Truss accompanied her predecessor, Boris Johnson. Visiting the White House last year.
More than 75 years after Winston Churchill declared that there was a “special relationship” between the two countries, a concept repeatedly confirmed by the leaders of both countries.
Tony Blair British tabloids ridiculed him as George W. Bush’s “poodle” for supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. David Cameron Barack Obama had a “bromance”, but Obama was also frustrated with the British about Britain’s defense spending and its treatment of Libya after its 2011 deportation. Muammar Gaddafi.
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan formed a close alliance At the height of the Cold War, the prime minister once told students that the Republican president’s “really good sense of humor” helped their relationship. There were also difficulties, such as when I resented the initial neutrality of the Reagan administration.
The White House did not anticipate Truss’ announcement in May, when she was Foreign Secretary, that the government would proceed with legislation to rewrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The deal was part of the UK’s 2020 Brexit exit from the EU, designed to avoid a harsh north-south border with Ireland that could disrupt Northern Ireland’s fragile peace.
Now, in the first weeks of Truss’ premiership, Biden administration officials are taking the new UK leader’s steps cautiously. Analysts say there is some uncertainty within the administration. Northern Ireland Protocol Undercut It could plunge Europe into trade chaos at a moment when Biden is working hard to keep the West united in a confrontation with Russia over aggression against Ukraine.
“Brexit could be an issue again, an issue that could make it difficult for Europe as a whole to work together at a time when it is important for Europe to work together,” Bergman said. Now is not the time for your two closest partners to fight. ”
Certainly, there was an area of friction between Biden and Johnson, who had a close relationship with former President Donald Trump.
Mr Biden was adamantly opposed to Brexit and expressed great concern for Northern Ireland’s future.Biden once called Johnson “Body and Emotional Clones” Trump’s.
Johnson has worked hard to overcome that impression, emphasizing commonalities with Biden on climate change, support for international organizations, and in particular the UK’s U.S.-led campaign to provide economic and military support to Ukraine. Confirmed to be an early generous member of the Alliance. Aftermath of the Russian invasion.
The former prime minister also threatened to negotiate a new U.S.-U.K. trade deal days before his administration, just as the U.K. regained control of national trade policy weeks before Biden took office, ending the post-Brexit transition. A period that pressured Biden to start but failed.
But early in his presidency, Biden remained largely focused on his domestic to-do list, spending trillions on things like coronavirus relief and infrastructure, and putting off negotiating trade deals on the back burner.
Elliot Abrams, chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition, a conservative foreign policy group, said the Truss needed Biden to prioritize a new U.S.-U.K. trade deal. Queen Elizabeth’s funeral doesn’t set the stage for tough bilateral conversations, but it nonetheless marks the moment when the two leaders begin to appreciate each other.
Truss, who replaced Johnson, who was forced to resign in the face of a string of scandals, has lagged behind in the polls. I am aiming for
“If I were (the Truss), I would like to see the UK play a much more leading role in helping Ukraine than any other country but the US,” said Abrams.Trump, George • W. Bush, the Reagan administration. “And we want to send a positive economic message to the British public that negotiations on a free trade agreement may be beginning.”
https://www.wtol.com/article/news/nation-world/biden-united-kingdom/507-226202a5-090d-4eb1-8766-9fa7717b2957 Biden heads to UK for Queen’s funeral to meet Liz Truss