UK calls Boris Johnson 'Britain Trump', president tells crowds

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Donald Trump told a group of conservative students in America that Boris Johnson, the next prime minister of the UK, will be “Britain Trump”.

“We have a really good man who’s going to be the prime minister of the UK now, Boris Johnson,” Mr Trump said to the audience at Turning Point USA’s Teen Student Action Summit in Washington DC. “He’s tough, and he’s smart,” the president continued. “They say ‘Britain Trump’, they call him Britain Trump, and that’s a good thing. They like me over there. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they need."

“He’ll get it done,” he added, appearing to refer to Brexit, which the new leader has just a few months to finalise. “Boris is good. He’s gonna do a good job.”

After praising the next prime minister, Mr Trump attempted to shout out Nigel Farage, who was, according to the president, in the audience.

“Where’s Nigel?” he said, placing a hand above his eyes. “He’s here some place. I saw him. I said, ‘what is he doing here!’ He’s a little older than most of you. I’ll tell you what, he got 32 per cent of the vote from nowhere, over in UK. Thank you Nigel. He did a great job. I know he’s going to work well with Boris.”

Turning Point opened the president’s speech with a video recalling his election in 2016, beginning from doubt and ending with his victory. Led by right-wing organiser Charlie Kirk, the group is meant to “educate students about the importance of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government”.

Mr Trump used his lengthy speech to disperse lies about his tariffs, saying they’re bringing in “billions” of dollars, insult representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with another riff about her two-part last name, and assert that he has unlimited power.

“I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do whatever I want as president,” he said to applause, referring to the part of the US Constitution that gives him executive – but not unlimited – power. “But I don’t even talk about that.”

As is common with his speeches, he also referenced the number of federal judges he’s appointed while in office. According to him, the current total is 124.