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How was the first meeting of Biden and Truss? How were the US-UK relations during history?
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What are the points of difference and alignment policies of these two countries?
US-UK relations enter a new chapter as the new PM and king settle in
Recently President Joe Biden arrived in London to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II at a time of transition in U.S.-U.K. relations, as both a new monarch and a new prime minister are settling in.
The two close allies now face a period of political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic. Unlike his fellow septuagenarian Biden, King Charles III faces questions from the public about whether his age will limit his ability to carry out the monarch’s duties faithfully.
Charles, 73, and Biden, 79, discussed global cooperation on the climate crisis last year while both attended a summit in Glasgow, Scotland. They also met at Buckingham Palace in June 2021 at reception the Queen hosted before a world leaders’ summit in Cornwall.
On the other hand, the hawkish approach of Prime Minister Liz Truss to Russia and China puts her on the same page as Biden. But the rise of Truss, 47, who once called the relationship “special but not exclusive,” could mark a decidedly new chapter in the trans-Atlantic partnership on trade and more.
Her backing of legislation that would shred parts of the post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland is of deep concern for Biden officials in the early going of Truss’s premiership. Analysts say the move could cause deep strain between the U.K. and the European Union and undermine peace in Northern Ireland. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the move “would not create a conducive environment” for crafting a long-awaited U.S.-UK trade deal coveted by Truss and her Conservative Party.
Biden arrived in London late Saturday and had been set to meet with Truss on Sunday. Still, the prime minister’s office said Saturday they would skip the weekend hello, opting for a meeting in New York at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday. However, Truss still planned to gather with other world leaders converging on London for the royal funeral. The White House confirmed the U.N. meeting just as the president boarded Air Force One.
Truss finds herself, as Biden does, facing questions about whether she has what it takes to lift a country battered by stubborn inflation borne out of the coronavirus pandemic and exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, unleashing chaos on the global energy market.
All the while, Britain — and the rest of Europe — is carefully watching to see what the upcoming U.S
Midterm elections will bring for the Democratic American president after he vowed upon taking office that “America is back” to being a full partner in the international community after four years of Republican Donald Trump pushing his “America First” worldview.
It’s been more than 75 years since Winston Churchill declared a “special relationship” between the two nations, a notion that leaders on both sides have repeatedly affirmed. Still, there have been bumps along the way.
The British tabloids derisively branded Tony Blair as George W. Bush’s “poodle” for backing the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq. David Cameron and Barack Obama had a “bromance.” Still, Obama also had his frustrations with the Brits over defence spending and the U.K.’s handling of Libya following the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.
Specifically, there was friction between Biden and Johnson, who had a warm rapport with former President Donald Trump
Biden staunchly opposed Brexit as a candidate and had expressed great concern over the future of Northern Ireland. Biden once even derided Johnson as a “physical and emotional clone” of Trump.
Johnson worked hard to overcome that impression, stressing his common ground with Biden on climate change, support for international institutions and, most notably, by making confident Britain was an early and generous member of the U.S.-led alliance providing economic and military assistance to Ukraine in the aftermath of the Russian invasion.
As the prime minister’s office said Saturday, they would skip the weekend hello, opting instead for a meeting in New York at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday; relations between the two leaders are already strained by her threats as foreign secretary to rip up the post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland.
After a meeting between Truss and the Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin, on Sunday, both sides were understood to have agreed that there was an opportunity to reset relations between the U.K. and Ireland, giving hope that talks with Brussels will restart in the coming weeks.
Biden has expressed concerns that peace in the province should not be undermined by the Brexit row and has been reluctant to strike a free trade deal with the U.K
However, the pair will likely find common ground in pursuing a tough line on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and sharing a hawkish approach to China. While there are pre-existing tensions over Brexit between the two leaders, inherited from Boris Johnson’s government, both sides hope to improve the relationship amid signs that talks between the U.K. and the E.U. will resume over the protracted dispute.
Meanwhile, Labour said Truss had been “snubbed” by Biden after their planned meeting before the Queen’s funeral did not go
During Truss’s two-day trip to New York, she will hold a series of bilateral meetings with other leaders, including the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen and the French president, Emmanuel Macron. It will be the first official meeting between the pair since Truss’s comments during the Tory leadership race that the “jury’s out” over whether Macron was “friend or foe”.
It seems the relations between the two Anglo-Saxon states are not symmetrical during modern history
Biden did not consult London about withdrawing from Afghanistan, just as Reagan didn’t ask Mrs Thatcher about his offer to eliminate all nuclear weapons. As the “junior partner”, in David Cameron’s words, the U.K. is needy in this relationship and inclined to cut the U.S. slack or curry favour.
Being the supplicant can grate on British prime ministers. Boris Johnson called the phrase “special relationship” “needy and weak”
Britain and America have become brothers in arms many times in the past hundred years, including in two World Wars, Korea, Kuwait, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. They are already committing to be so again. Russia, actively in Ukraine, and China, threaten the West’s security.
As Biden described the U.S. and the U.K. as “the leaders in NATO” in support of Ukraine, ironically, he has been widely noted that encouraging the rich to get richer during a cost of living crisis does not accord with President Biden’s economic philosophy at home. Coincidentally with his meeting with Truss, he tweeted: “I am sick and tired of trickle-down economics. It has never worked. We’re building an economy from the bottom up and middle out.” The U.S. and U.K. economies are closely entwined but also in competition.
“We speak the same language and share historical roots, but our national interests are not always the same.” Said new PM
Truss’s “special relationship” with the president is on course to be no better and no worse than many of her predecessors. As the west bloc is confronting different issues like the U.S.’s decline and the energy crisis in Europe, it seems the autonomous alliance is the only option for the U.K. to preserve its interest.
