- The Observer
36 25.08.19 Focus
At the three-day summit in
Biarritz, amid the grandeur of the
historic seaside resort on France’s
Atlantic coast, the prime minis-
ter will be under particular scru-
tiny. Every word and gesture from
Johnson at this annual gathering of
the world’s major industrial democ-
racies will be analysed for clues
as to where he intends to position
the UK on the gaping transatlantic
divide between the US and Europe.
If the past is any guide, the prime
minister will try to avoid giving
away that location, and if Trump has
an interest in helping him, he willThe PM has so far been careful not
to break with the EU on key policies.
But as a no-deal Brexit looms he may
face pressure from the US president
at the G7 summit to make some
tough decisions, writes Julian Borger
B
oris Johnson will
sit down for break-
fast this morning
with a man he once
famously described
as “ betraying a quite
stupefying ignorance that makes
him frankly unfi t to hold the offi ce
of president of the United States ”.
Not too long after Johnson made
that remark, Donald Trump went
on to win that offi ce. And today
Johnson – having defi ed similar
assessments of his own fi tness for
the highest offi ce – will come face to
face with him at the Hôtel du Palaisin Biarritz, on the sidelines of the
G7 summit, in his fi rst major event
on the international stage as prime
minister.
Both men rose to the top by por-
traying themselves as outsiders who
were prepared to break some fur-
niture in pursuit of an imagined
national greatness. Now they must
rearrange that furniture, or make
some of their own.
Johnson fl ew into Biarritz after
meetings with his counterparts in
Berlin and Paris, meetings which
appear to have brought them no
closer to a Brexit deal.Whose side is he on? Johnson faces
Biarritz balancing act with Trump