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Boris Johnson says UK should welcome Donald Trump and give administration ‘respect and recognition’

The Foreign Secretary praises the US President for 'getting stuck in' and says he does not deserve 'infantile denigration' 

Saturday 20 January 2018 21:08 EST
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Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks to attend a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks to attend a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street (AP)

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Boris Johnson has said Donald Trump should be welcomed to the UK, while arguing that his administration deserves “respect and recognition”.

In a complimentary piece for The Telegraph the Foreign Secretary praised the Trump team for “getting stuck in” and said they did not deserve “infantile denigration”.

Mr Johnson attacked the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on multiple occasions in the article, criticising him for alleged “ignorance” after the Labour leader criticised “Trump’s America”.

Praising Mr Trump's renewal of the US' commitment to Nato, Mr Johnson argued: “The people of the United States maintain the commitment to the safety from aggression of countries that in my lifetime were held hostage by Soviet Communism.

“That is a great thing. It is a noble thing. It is a commitment to Nato and to the world for which the American administration deserves respect and recognition – not infantile denigration.”

He also praised Mr Trump for helping to “end the tragedy in Syria” and “destroying a substantial part of the Syrian air force”.

“The Trump White House has shown a new willingness to get stuck in, to help end the tragedy of Syria. Where previously the world had refused to respond to Assad’s use of chemical weapons, Trump acted,” he said in The Telegraph.

The Foreign Secretary signed off the piece saying Mr Trump had successful trips to a number of countries followed by the phrase “chuck it, Corbyn.”

The article comes as Mr Trump reached his one year anniversary of his inauguration, as protesters took to the streets around the world in the Women's March.

He has come under fire after the US government was forced to shut down for the first time in four years.

Congress has found itself locked in a stalemate between spending priorities and immigration, sparking a lapse in federal funding.

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