LONDON — Conservative leadership favorite and Brexit advocate Boris Johnson turned down a meeting with President Trump during his state visit to Britain.
Days of speculation surrounded a possible face-to-face encounter as party heavyweights jostle to take over for Prime Minister Theresa May, who stands down as leader on Friday.
It appears Johnson calculated that a face-to-face meeting with Trump, who is broadly unpopular in Britain even in the Johnson’s Conservative party, could harm his chances of becoming British prime minister.
A source close to Johnson told the Mirror, “Trump called Boris and offered a one-to-one meeting. Boris thanked him but declined the invitation as he has to focus on the hustings event that was happening at the same time, which the president understood. He said he looked forward to catching up at a later date.”
Instead, Johnson, who was born in New York and harbored boyhood ambitions of becoming president of the United States, had what sources described as a friendly and productive 20-minute conversation with Trump.
Johnson has ridden some of the same populist sentiments as Trump, emerging as a key Brexit campaigner and winning the praise of the president.
Trump again spoke enthusiastically about the former foreign secretary when asked about the various candidates during a news conference with May on Tuesday afternoon, the second day of his state visit. “I know Boris, I like him, I’ve liked him for a long time. I think he would do a very good job,” he said.
