London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 12, 2025

President Biden: Bad News For Britain And Boris?

President Biden: Bad News For Britain And Boris?

Boris Johnson is a more natural fit with Donald Trump - two populist showmen set on shaking up the established order. But for Britain, President Joe Biden isn't all bad news.

An air of anticipation, and anxiety, will hang heavy around 10 Downing Street this morning. Ears straining for the familiar chimes of the Prime Minister’s phone, awaiting feverishly the most coveted call in world politics: “Please hold for the President-Elect.”

For Boris Johnson, unsure of where he stands with Joe Biden, America’s chosen man, it’ll be a nervy moment.

On the face of it, he’s a more natural fit with Donald Trump: two populist showmen set on shaking up the established order. Scratch below the surface, however, and it’s clear America’s next leader - an avowed internationalist and climate champion - has more in common with the British premier than meets the eye.

Establishing precisely where these areas of mutual interest lie will be a priority for London. On this, there’s ground to be made up - UK officials, like all overseas players, were denied access to Team Biden during the campaign, an effort to thwart accusations of foreign interference.

A deficit of trust must also be overturned. President-Elect Biden is well aware of the Trumpian edge to Johnson’s administration, not long ago dubbing the prime minister a “physical and emotional clone” of his vanquished Republican rival. The 46th President won’t easily forget Johnson’s digs at his former boss, Barack Obama, either (the "part-Kenyan" ex-president had an “ancestral dislike” of the British empire), nor excuse the Brit’s withering commentary of Hillary Clinton (a “sadistic mental health nurse”).

But it’s Brexit that’ll prove the biggest sticking point. Vocal in his opposition to Britain’s EU divorce, Biden will waste no time in pressuring Johnson to abandon threats of no-deal, encouraging instead an eleventh-hour olive branch to Brussels. Should London resist, things could get ugly - especially if the government's incendiary Internal Market Bill remains in play.

A piece of Brexit legislation that could, experts say, see the island of Ireland again riven by a hard border, the Bill is of deep personal concern to Biden, an Irish-American with strong ties to his ancestral homeland. Should it, or any other British proposal, threaten Irish peace, a transatlantic trade deal would be off the table, the President-Elect has warned in no uncertain terms.

It’s a threat Downing Street would be wise to take seriously. The success of Brexit - upon which Johnson’s legacy hangs - is tied inextricably to sealing a bumper UK-US trade pact; one that underscores the value of commercial sovereignty, and vindicates Britain’s decision to go it alone.



Even if Biden’s Irish fears are assuaged, securing such a deal won’t be easy. Negotiators have been hard at it since January, seeking common ground on food standards, agriculture, market access for drug companies, and a litany of other thorny issues; but progress has been glacial.

With the departure of Donald Trump, who spoke energetically of a speedy agreement, the process is likely to slow even further. EU member states, collectively the world’s second largest economy, have suffered four years of insult and alienation from a disdainful Washington; healing those divisions, not brokering more Anglo-US trade, will be President Biden’s regional priority.

They say the 77-year-old is a pragmatist, however, and 2021 isn’t a year that Britain will easily be ignored. From January, the UK will assume a succession of heady international roles - G7 and UN Security Council presidencies, before hosting the COP26 climate conference in December - each one of vital importance to an Oval Office under new administration.

These meetings will reveal a striking overlap of Biden-Johnson policy objectives. On the urgent need for new environmental agreement at COP26, the two men could scarcely be more closely aligned, particularly when measured against Trump’s unyielding climate skepticism. There’s common ground on Iran too, with Britain - as part of a wider European front - strenuously opposed to the outgoing president’s showdown with Tehran, something Biden is set to reverse.



And then there are interests that speak directly to the nations’ vaunted special relationship. NATO spending, for one, will remain an area of unwavering agreement (unlike many European allies, the UK meets its military spending obligations), while both Johnson and Biden see the need to contain Russia's creeping aggression in the East - something neither France nor Germany, for various political and economic reasons, appear unwilling to tackle.

With this in mind, Boris Johnson needn't entirely mourn America’s changing of the guard. Will Biden offer the same blustering exuberance and Brexit back-slapping as his predecessor? The same personal chemistry?

No; but he’ll work to uplift - not wreck - the sort of global multilateralism upon which Britain thrives. For London, that's something at least.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
×