On Tuesday, former mayor of London Boris Johnson became the incoming prime minister of Great Britain and President Trump was delighted, waxing effusively, “We have a really good man who’s going to be the prime minister of the UK now … He’s tough and he’s smart. They call him Britain’s Trump. And people are saying that’s a good thing. They like me over there. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they need. That’s what they need. He’ll get it done. Boris is good. He’s going to do a good job,” as The Daily Mail reported.
Trump also praised Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage, a member of the audience where Trump spoke, saying, “I know he’s going to work well with Boris. They’re going to do some good things.”
Last Friday Trump said of Johnson, who was vying with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to become the leader of the Conservative Party and thus the next prime minister, “I like him. I think he’s going to do a great job. I think we’re going to have a great relationship.” He said of former prime minister Theresa May that she had “done a very bad job with Brexit. It’s a disaster and it shouldn’t be that way. I think Boris will straighten it out.”
Johnson, who was born in New York City to British parents and thus had dual citizenship, said, “We are going to energize the country. Like some slumbering giant we are going to arise and ping off the guy ropes of self-doubt.” Johnson was elected to parliament in 2001, then became mayor of London in 2008. He served as foreign secretary from 2016 to 2018. Johnson added, “No one party, no one person has a monopoly of wisdom but … it is we Conservatives who have had the best insights into human nature and the best insights into how to manage the jostling sets of instincts in the human heart. Time and again it is to us that the people of this country have turned to get that balance right.”
Johnson’s penchant for outrageous behavior has led some to question whether he is serious enough for the job. But National Review’s Jay Nordlinger had a different opinion, writing, “A few weeks ago, I asked a prominent British figure, ‘Will Boris rise to the occasion? Will the job sober him up? Will the office make the man?’ The answer: Yes, I think so. For one thing, he has wanted to be PM his entire life, and he does not want to fail.’ Rings true.”
Fox News noted of Johnson, “While he once joked that him becoming Britain’s prime minister was as likely as finding Elvis on Mars, his somewhat controversial and colorful public life has made him one of the most popular and recognized politicians in the country, with many believing he’s capable of a successful premiership. He campaigned during the leadership election on getting Britain out of the EU on the scheduled date of Oct. 31 — with or without a deal, a promise that won over supporters of Brexit but created animosity with more moderate Conservatives who fear the consequences of a no-deal Brexit that experts say would plunge the country into recession.”