Steerpike Steerpike

Will Trump and Boris meet next week?

Trump and Boris; Boris and Trump – the two men have a lot more in common than funny hair, an appetite for women, and a magical ability to offend left-liberal sensibilities. But the hot question in Westminster at the moment is whether these two big beasts will meet when the American President visits London next week.

Will they? Won’t they? The British press is teeming with reports that Trump and Boris are to meet privately, possibly at a meeting mediated by Nigel Farage. The new Special Relationship, populism-style.

Mr Steerpike understands that, on the American side, officials are standing by to organise the meeting, but it hasn’t been formalised. Boris’s team said last week there has been no invitation to meet President Trump, which is not exactly a denial – besides the ball is in Trump’s court. ‘As if Boris would say no if the president calls,’ remarks a Westminster insider. Farage for his part has said: ‘I haven’t pushed it. I’ll see what happens.’

Donald Trump is a fan of Boris, and spoke yesterday about how Farage and Boris were his friends. Boris too has spoken warm words about Mr Trump.

Mr S expects Boris and Donald will find a way of bumping into each other, somehow. He also notes that Trump certainly will meet one Tory leadership hopeful. The Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will see him, as a matter of course, next week.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Steerpike
Written by
Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

Topics in this article

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in