British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said a lot of nice things about Donald Trump over the years, from declaring respect for the U.S. president to suggesting he might deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.
But after a group of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Johnson has changed his tune.
Trump, he said, had encouraged the violent uprising, had been arguing about the outcome of a “free and fair election”, and was “completely wrong”.
It was an incredible pivot for someone who is often compared to Trump and has for years stopped from openly criticizing him. Other global leaders have also faced difficulties in dealing with the volatile and invisible president who has surpassed international agreements and institutions by abandonment. But Johnson’s critics say his years of smoothing – and, some say, imitation – Trump have damaged the UK’s international authority and poisoned its political culture.
Leslie Vinjamuri, US and American program director at the Chatham House think tank, said the question of how to deal with Trump has been “the biggest question in Western diplomacy for the past four years.” leave ”.
“And I would say the UK was on the wrong side of it,” she said.
Johnson is not the only Western leader who has tried to make friends, persuaded Trump. French President Emmanuel Macron had an early “bromance” with the US president, inviting Trump to Paris in 2017 for an arms parade and Bastille Day dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Johnson’s governor, Theresa May, visited the White House just days after Trump’s founding and was photographed holding the president’s hand.
It wasn’t long before the two relations turned bitter, but Johnson was more successful in maintaining the good side of a president whom he unjustly praised as “Britain Trump”.
“The dirty open secret of Europe at the time of Trump was that everyone thought he was a threat,” said Brian Klaas, associate professor of global politics at University College London. “It’s just that Boris thought he was a potential threat to serve his own interests.”
Johnson’s supporters argue that he had no choice but to capture the leader of the UK’s most important alliance – especially as the UK left the European Union and sought a major trade deal with Washington.
Johnson tried to change Trump’s course, unsuccessfully behaving to lure him back to Iran’s nuclear deal. He initially resisted U.S. pressure to ban Chinese technology company Huawei from Britain’s 5G telecommunications network – although he eventually joined. Meanwhile, the famous UK-US trade deal has yet to emerge.
Critics say Johnson took his court to Trump too long and got little back.
Emily Thornberry, a senior legislator for the opposition Labor Party, said the Conservative government’s unsatisfactory view of Trump had been “humble and useless”.
“We did everything we could to charm him,” she told The Associated Press news agency. “This man was not attractive … He was a bully and the way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them.
“He was wrong in principle.” It did not advance our interests in any way, and it gave Donald Trump a kind of credit that he did not deserve, ”she said.
Like Trump, Johnson has embarked on populist stunts, growing promises and, at times, racist and outspoken language. But on most policy issues, Johnson is closer to President Joe Biden than to Trump. Johnson, the leader of the UK Conservative Party, believes in international alliances such as NATO and believes that the fight against climate change should be a priority for the government.
Some UK politicians and officials are worried that the government’s relationship with Trump, which was forged for the second time with the US House of Representatives for the second time, could hurt the Biden administration.
Biden is annoyed by Johnson, who insulted President Barack Obama by saying that the “semi-Kenyan” leader did not like Britain’s ancestors. Biden criticized Johnson in the fall when the British leader threatened to breach an international Brexit treaty that he himself had signed.
Kim Darroch, who lost his post as UK ambassador to Washington after leaking his candid candid remarks about Trump in 2019, wrote in the Financial Times “that there will be a price to pay, somewhere down the the way, for our obedience to Mr. Biden ‘s Preview “.
The change in American leadership is also shocking for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a strong ally who did not even mention Trump’s name when he criticized the “disgraceful” Capitol unrest.
It was not hard to complain about Netanyahu criticizing his good friend. In the past four years, Trump has given Netanyahu diplomatic gifts, recognizing the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to deliver a series of diplomatic treaties between Israel and Arab countries.
But Netanyahu may also have been wary of criticizing tactics he uses against his enemies. Like Trump, Netanyahu often fights against the media and believes opponents with language that is seen as racist or intellectual. Tested for corruption charges, Netanyahu discounts out at the country’s democratic institutions.
Netanyahu reached the opening of his lawsuit last year with legislators and cabinet ministers, who stood behind him, accusing the media, police, prosecutors and the judge for conspiracy. betrayed him in a coup. Recently, Netanyahu has remained silent as supporters have been accused of attacks on demonstrators against Netanyahu.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has urged citizens to learn lessons from the US uprising and remember that democracy “is not to be taken for granted”.
“The right to vote, the voice of the citizen in the exercise of democratic rights, the power of the judiciary and the rule of law must be principles which we all share.” “he said.
In the UK, there are also warnings that the authority and promotion of “post-reality” has entered the country’s political bloodstream.
Neil O’Brien, a Conservative legislator who removes anti-online science posts, said Britons would be wrong to see events in the Capitol as an unprecedented crisis in America.
He said the UK also has conspiracy theorists who have opposed police at demonstrations against coronavirus locks – and politicians who “court them to get clicks and take advantage on their energy ”.
O’Brien wrote that the unrest in Washington occurred “not just because of one man, but because people in power positions were making short-term decisions to feed the beast, and to play on “.
“Don’t think it couldn’t happen here,” he said.