The Speaker of the US House of Representatives today insisted Britain and America can overcome the Greenland row ‘calmly as friends’.
In an address to Parliament, Mike Johnson – a top Republican politician – said he had told Donald Trump he was in London on a ‘mission’ to ‘help calm the waters’.
It comes after the US President plunged the so-called ‘special relationship’ into a fresh crisis by threatening to slap punitive new tariffs on UK firms and households.
Mr Trump has warned of a bitter trade war with Britain and other European nations unless a deal is reached for him to purchase Greenland from Denmark.
He said he would charge the UK a 10 per cent tariff ‘on any and all goods’ sent to the US from February 1, increasing to 25 per cent from June 1.
The US President said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland – all of whom are NATO members.
In his speech to MPs and peers in Westminster on Tuesday morning, Mr Johnson – an ally of Mr Trump – attempted to cool transatlantic tensions.
But he also insisted that the world needed a ‘strong America’, in the wake of Mr Trump’s demands for the US to acquire Greenland for its own national security.
Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives insisted Britain and America can overcome the Greenland row ‘calmly as friends’
In an address to Parliament, Mr Johnson- a top Republican politician – said he had told Donald Trump he was in London on a ‘mission’ to ‘help calm the waters’
Mr Trump has warned of a bitter trade war with Britain and other European nations unless a deal is reached for him to purchase Greenland from Denmark.
Mr Johnson addressed Parliament a day after Sir Keir Starmer held an emergency press conference in Downing Street to respond to Mr Trump’s tariff threats.
The US Speaker said he agreed with the Prime Minister’s approach of trying to find a resolution through dialogue, after Sir Keir signalled Britain would not impose retaliatory tariffs on America.
‘When I met with Prime Minister Starmer at Downing Street yesterday, I told him that I thought his national address a few hours earlier was well done,’ Mr Johnson said.
‘We’ve always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do that. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case.
‘I spoke to President Trump at length yesterday, and I told him that I really felt that my mission here – that even though we planned this back in the fall – we didn’t know how the events would develop over the last few days.
‘But I told the President that I felt that my mission here today was to encourage our friends and help calm the waters.’
Mr Johnson went on to insist that a ‘strong America is good for the entire world’ as he outlined Mr Trump’s efforts to ‘usher in a new golden age for our country’.
‘President Trump is taking seriously the modern and dynamic threats that China and Russia pose for our global security,’ he added. ‘We ignore these threats at our peril.’
Mr Johnson praised Britain’s role in the recent seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the north Atlantic.
‘I want to haste to express our gratitude for you today and to all of you for joining us in some of our most recent actions to deter these hostile regimes,’ he said.
‘Including the recent seizure of a black market vessel seeking to circumvent world sanctions. That was a big help to us.
‘That kind of open dialogue and partnership is a great example of how we work together to ensure our collective defence around the world.
‘It is an objective and obvious truth that a strong America is good for the entire world, and a strong UK is as well.
‘At the same time, it’s also obvious that we have to take care of our own houses, so to speak, before we take care of the neighbourhood.’