LONDON — After promising not to weigh in on Britain’s general election, President Trump did exactly the opposite, praising Prime Minister Boris Johnson and then rebutting opposition claims that he planned to buy the country’s health service.
His responses, during the first day of a NATO meeting in London, illustrate the fine line he is trying to tread.
Although he and Johnson have a friendly relationship and plan to work together after Britain leaves the European Union, the British prime minister has made clear that Trump’s praise could push voters away ahead of the December 12 election.
So when Trump was first asked about election during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, he stuck to the script. He said: “I have no thoughts on it.”
His aides have already said the president is “cognizant” of not wading into another country’s election, and there is no bilateral meeting scheduled with Johnson — unprecedented for a British prime minister hosting an American president.
“I don’t want to complicate it,” said Trump on Tuesday, his first full day in London, before acknowledging that his appeal did not extend far in Europe.
“I love Germany, I love this country, I love a lot of countries, but I’m representing the U.S.,” he continued during the meeting at Winfield House, the American ambassador’s residence.
“They may not like me because I’m representing us, and I represent us strong.”
Even so, he couldn’t help but praise the British prime minister.
“I think Boris is very capable, and I think he’ll do a good job,” he said.
He then set about demolishing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s claims that the U.S. was intent on a trade deal that would open the National Health Service to American companies and push up drug prices.
“I don’t even know where that rumor started, we have absolutely nothing to do with it,” he said.
“And we wouldn’t want to if you handed it to us on a silver platter, we want nothing to do with it.”
The issue has become a major line of attack for socialist Corbyn’s supporters. They accuse Johnson of conspiring with Trump to sell off a cherished part of the British welfare state.
Thousands of people were due to assemble at Trafalgar Square on Tuesday afternoon to rally in support of the N.H.S. And Corbyn has promised to confront Trump when the pair attend a Buckingham Palace reception in the evening.
National polls give Johnson a double-digit lead over Corbyn. However, the United Kingdom’s first-past-the-post system, in which candidates can win by receiving only a plurality of the vote, as well as Brexit confusion and an expected surge in tactical voting — when voters ditch party allegiance to support the local candidate with the best chance of winning — could complicate the result.
Trump has previously said a Corbyn win would be “so bad” for Britain but steered away from repeating his criticism in London.
“I can work with anybody. I’m a very easy person to work with,” he said.
