Boris Johnson hops on Amtrak for White House meeting with Biden

Joe Biden’s answer to a question about the crisis on the Southern border was unclear on Tuesday when his aides shouted down reporters, covering the president’s attempt to respond.

‘Violence is not justified,’ Biden appeared to say but the rest of his response was not decipherable. 

At the end of an Oval Office meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Biden was asked about the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border amid backlash and criticism following images of U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback using whips to round up migrants or prevent them from stepping onto American soil.

But his aides yelled ‘thank you’ and ‘let’s go’ to the press in the room, herding them outside as Biden appeared to address the issue. But between the shouting of his aides and the president’s wearing a face mask, it was impossible to make out what Biden said. 

In the Oval Office sit down, Johnson took control of the meeting, calling on British reporters for questions that he and Biden answered. No American reporters were recognized. 

Biden had a notecard in hand – as he usually does for meetings – that he referred to during his remarks with Johnson.   

At the beginning of their meeting, Biden and Johnson exchanged pleasantries and joked about their shared love of trains. The prime minister took the Amtrak train down from New York City, where he was at the annual UN General Assembly meeting, to meet with Biden at the White House. 

‘They love you,’ Johnson told Biden of Amtrak. The president bragged how he had ridden over 2 million miles on the nation’s train system.

‘Well, they should. I’ve traveled more on Amtrak,’ he said. ‘If I were conductor I’d be number one in seniority.’

Johnson thanked Biden for hosting his first White House meeting. The two men were both in New York on Tuesday for the UN meeting but each traveled separately to Washington so they could meet at the White House.

‘I want to thank you very much for today. It’s great to be with you,’ Johnson said. ‘And This is a very important trip for us in the UK and we’ve seen some great progress just in the last period.’

He thanked Biden for lifting the ban on British beef in the U.S. and for easing the travel ban, allowing those fully vaccinated to travel between the U.S. and UK. 

Johnson then called on a few British reporters to ask questions. The two leaders were quizzed on the Harry Dunn case, possible trade deals and the Irish protocols. Reporters when then escorted out as the American press shouted questions to Biden about the latest crisis at the border and the situation with the French. 

Biden reassured Johnson that the case of Harry Dunn, who died in a road crash involving U.S. diplomat Anne Sacoolas, is ‘being worked on’ even as no details were released.

But there seemed little prospect of Johnson get his wish for a trade deal. 

 ‘We are going to talk about trade a little bit today and we’re going to have to work that through,’ Biden cautioned. 

Johnson, in the wake of Brexit, wants a free trade deal.

Johnson was at the White House for his first in-person meeting as prime minister. He first met with Vice President Kamala Harris before he joined Biden in the Oval Office. 

‘It’s a great honor and privilege for me to be here to meet you for the first time. I’ve heard a lot about you but it’s fantastic to be here,’ Johnson told Harris at their meeting.

He praised the new announcement on climate funding from the United States, which Biden announced during his speech at the UN General Assembly. Biden said he’d ask Congress to double the amount of money for public climate financing – to about $11 billion a year.

‘I just want to say, Madame Vice President, Kamala, on climate change I think that today was a really good day for the world. And I thank the U.S. government and President Biden for the steps you’ve taken to reassure the world that America is committed to helping to tackle climate change,’ Johnson said. 

Harris welcomed the prime minister, talking about the ‘shared priorities’ of the two countries – including the COVID pandemic and climate change.

‘And of course we must work and continue to work together to uphold and protect democratic principles and values around the globe. And we look forward to that continuing relationship, and our relationship as partners,’ she said. 

Johnson also praised the U.S. easing its travel ban, allowing fully vaccinated people from the UK to come visit the United States.  

He and Harris met in the vice president’s ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across the driveway from the White House. 

After their remarks, Johnson and Harris walked outside to the balcony overlooking the West Wing of the White House. They posed for photos and waved to journalists below.

Johnson and Biden took separate trips from New York to Washington on Tuesday to meet at the White House amid rising tensions with the French.

The two leaders were in New York for the UN General Assembly meeting but didn’t meet face to face there. Instead their sit down on Tuesday evening will be in the Oval Office of the White House, a symbol of power and more recognizable backdrop. 

It’s Johnson’s first trip to the White House, a visit he never made during Donald Trump’s presidency, partially due to the COVID pandemic. 

The British prime minister took the train from New York City to Washington D.C. a move the president – who earned the nickname ‘Amtrak Joe’ when he commuted daily from Wilmington, Del., to the nation’s Capitol as a senator – appreciated. Biden on Tuesday took Air Force One back to Washington.  

The two men previously met in person in June at the G7 meeting in Cornwall. 

Johnson gushed over Biden in an interview with NBC’s Today Show, which aired Tuesday morning ahead of their meeting.

‘What I will say about Joe Biden and dealing with the new American president, yes, it is a breath of fresh air in the sense of the some things on which we can really really work together, and you knew I was gonna bring it up — climate change — he’s great on that,’ he said. 

His remarks were seen as a swipe at former President Donald Trump. 

But Johnson said the UK would seek a good relationship with whoever was in the White House. 

‘It is the job of the prime minister of the UK to have a good relationship with the president of the United States,’ he said. ‘The US-UK relationship – we are doomed, we are fated to get along. That applies to Donald Trump, that applies to Joe Biden.’

On Wednesday morning, the British prime minister will be on Capitol Hill to meet with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

The British and American leaders are touting their close special relationship amid French fury at the new US-UK-Australian alliance, dubbed AUKUS, that saw Paris lose a $90 billion sub contract.

French President Emmanuel Macron recalled France’s ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia after the deal was announced.

Biden has yet to address the situation and is attempting to speak to Macron.

‘We’re still working on the scheduling of it — with President Macron in the coming days,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.

‘And what I expect the President will do on that call is reaffirm our commitment to working with one of our oldest and closest partners on a range of challenges that the global community is facing,’ she noted.

Johnson, meanwhile, will celebrate the new deal with a dinner Tuesday night at the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C. with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Meanwhile, Biden and Morrison met in New York City on Tuesday afternoon where they emphasized their partnership was in the best interest of the world.  The AUKUS deal, as it has been dubbed, is part of American moves to counter China’s growing power in the Pacific region.    

‘The issues we discussed and our partnership today really do reach out to so many others in terms of how we address the global challenges,’ Morrison said as he met with Biden at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York

Biden agreed. ‘It goes well beyond just our partnership. Our partnership is in line with all the other democracies in the world. And we got a lot of work to do,’ he noted.