London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Nov 27, 2025

Boris Johnson says dealing with Joe Biden is ‘a breath of fresh air’

Boris Johnson says dealing with Joe Biden is ‘a breath of fresh air’

British prime minister Boris Johnson says working with President Joe Biden has been "a breath of fresh air," particularly on the issue of climate change.
British prime minister Boris Johnson says working with President Joe Biden has been "a breath of fresh air" compared to the previous administration when it comes to one issue in particular.

Johnson spoke to Savannah Guthrie about a range of topics in an exclusive interview on TODAY Tuesday ahead of his United Nations meetings and his first visit to the White House under Biden's presidency.

Asked about his close relationship with former President Donald Trump, Johnson said the U.K. prime minister and U.S. president are "fated to get along," which applies to Trump and now Biden.

"But what I will say about Joe Biden and dealing with the new American president, yes, it is a breath of fresh air in the sense of the some things on which we can really really work together, and you knew I was gonna bring it up — climate change — he’s great on that," Johnson said. "And he wants to cut CO². He wants to get to net zero by 2050, and he shares with me, a basic view that you can do this without penalizing the economy."

Trump openly mocked climate change, calling it "a hoax" and rolling back dozens of environmental rules and regulations.

Johnson also spoke out forcefully against the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, but did not indicate how that affected his relationship with Trump.

"I think America stands for an ideal, and that ideal is that people should be able to choose their governments peacefully," he said. "One person, one vote, by election.

"I just felt that some of the scenes at the Capitol didn’t wholly correspond with that ideal."

He refused to say whether he felt Trump was to blame for inciting the riot.

"I have no knowledge of what happened, but what I think is that, let me put it this way, my admiration for American democracy is undimmed by the whole thing," he said.

Johnson also addressed the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, which drew criticism from both sides of the aisle for being mismanaged. However, many lawmakers also acknowledged it was time to bring an end to a 20-year war.

"The U.K. owes a big debt to the U.S. military for the incredible professionalism and sacrifice that they showed at that airport, at the International Airport," Johnson said. "It was an amazing operation.

"It’s never going to be an easy thing to do to pull out of somewhere like Afghanistan after 20 years in a clean and straightforward way. But you can’t you can’t spend your whole time trying to run another country by proxy. I think that it was a massive logistical success what they did."

Johnson was aware that there was a chance the U.S.-backed government in Kabul could swiftly fall to the Taliban, which happened in a matter of days. He said he talked "frankly" with Biden about the operation.

"There was a spectrum of advice, a spectrum of predictions from the intelligence people, amongst which was the possibility that Kabul would collapse very fast and that the Taliban would would take over very fast," he said. "Of course you're going to look back on it with mixed feelings."

Many members of Congress have also expressed concern over the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, whose advances under the previous government could be wiped out by the repressive Taliban regime.

"I agree, and it’s a terrible thing now to listen to some of the threats that we’re hearing to their potential, their freedom, their opportunities," Johnson said. "But what we’ve got to do is work together as the West, to say to the new authorities in Afghanistan, in Kabul, 'Look, you want our cash? We want to engage with you, but Afghanistan can't be a breeding ground for terror anymore.'"

In Johnson's mind, it was time for the U.S. to pull its military forces.

"America has been there for 20 years, and it’s a respectable argument to say that enough is enough," he said. "Could we have done it a bit differently? Maybe we could."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK to Slash Key Pension Tax Perk, Targeting High Earners Under New Budget
UK Government Announces £150 Annual Cut to Household Energy Bills Through Levy Reforms
UK Court Hears Challenge to Ban on Palestine Action as Critics Decry Heavy-Handed Measures
Investors Rush Into UK Gilts and Sterling After Budget Eases Fiscal Concerns
UK to Raise Online Betting Taxes by £1.1 Billion Under New Budget — Firms Warn of Fallout
Lamine Yamal? The ‘Heir to Messi’ Lost to Barcelona — and the Kingdom Is in a Frenzy
Warner Music Group Drops Suit Against Suno, Launches Licensed AI-Music Deal
HP to Cut up to 6,000 Jobs Globally as It Ramps Up AI Integration
MediaWorld Sold iPad Air for €15 — Then Asked Customers to Return Them or Pay More
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer Promises ‘Full-Time’ Education for All Children as School Attendance Slips
UK Extends Sugar Tax to Sweetened Milkshakes and Lattes in 2028 Health Push
UK Government Backs £49 Billion Plan for Heathrow Third Runway and Expansion
UK Gambling Firms Report £1bn Surge in Annual Profits as Pressure Mounts for Higher Betting Taxes
UK Shares Advance Ahead of Budget as Financials and Consumer Staples Lead Gains
Domino’s UK CEO Andrew Rennie Steps Down Amid Strategic Reset
UK Economy Stalls as Reeves Faces First Budget Test
UK Economy’s Weak Start Adds Pressure on Prime Minister Starmer
UK Government Acknowledges Billionaire Exodus Amid Tax Rise Concerns
UK Budget 2025: Markets Brace as Chancellor Faces Fiscal Tightrope
UK Unveils Strategic Plan to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains
UK Taskforce Calls for Radical Reset of Nuclear Regulation to Cut Costs and Accelerate Build
UK Government Launches Consultation on Major Overhaul of Settlement Rules
Google Struggles to Meet AI Demand as Infrastructure, Energy and Supply-Chain Gaps Deepen
Car Parts Leader Warns Europe Faces Heavy Job Losses in ‘Darwinian’ Auto Shake-Out
Arsenal Move Six Points Clear After Eze’s Historic Hat-Trick in Derby Rout
Wealthy New Yorkers Weigh Second Homes as the ‘Mamdani Effect’ Ripples Through Luxury Markets
Families Accuse OpenAI of Enabling ‘AI-Driven Delusions’ After Multiple Suicides
UK Unveils Critical-Minerals Strategy to Break China Supply-Chain Grip
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” Extends U.K. No. 1 Run to Five Weeks
UK VPN Sign-Ups Surge by Over 1,400 % as Age-Verification Law Takes Effect
Former MEP Nathan Gill Jailed for Over Ten Years After Taking Pro-Russia Bribes
Majority of UK Entrepreneurs Regard Government as ‘Anti-Business’, Survey Shows
UK’s Starmer and US President Trump Align as Geneva Talks Probe Ukraine Peace Plan
UK Prime Minister Signals Former Prince Andrew Should Testify to US Epstein Inquiry
Royal Navy Deploys HMS Severn to Shadow Russian Corvette and Tanker Off UK Coast
China’s Wedding Boom: Nightclubs, Mountains and a Demographic Reset
Fugees Founding Member Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in High-Profile US Foreign Influence Case
WhatsApp’s Unexpected Rise Reshapes American Messaging Habits
United States: Judge Dressed Up as Elvis During Hearings – and Was Forced to Resign
Johnson Blasts ‘Incoherent’ Covid Inquiry Findings Amid Report’s Harsh Critique of His Government
Lord Rothermere Secures £500 Million Deal to Acquire Telegraph Titles
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Envoys Deliver Ultimatum to Ukraine: Sign Peace Deal by Thursday or Risk Losing American Support
Zelenskyy Signals Progress Toward Ending the War: ‘One of the Hardest Moments in History’ (end of his business model?)
U.S. Issues Alert Declaring Venezuelan Airspace a Hazard Due to Escalating Security Conditions
The U.S. State Department Announces That Mass Migration Constitutes an Existential Threat to Western Civilization and Undermines the Stability of Key American Allies
Students Challenge AI-Driven Teaching at University of Staffordshire
Pikeville Medical Center Partners with UK’s Golisano Children’s Network to Expand Pediatric Care
Germany, France and UK Confirm Full Support for Ukraine in US-Backed Security Plan
UK Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods Face Rising Backlash as Pandemic Schemes Unravel
×