The White House has denied Joe Biden is “anti-British”, as the US president prepared for talks with Rishi Sunak.
Biden will hold a meeting with the prime minister in Belfast on Wednesday after arriving in Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Downing Street was forced to deny the meeting was “low-key” after it was reportedly downgraded from a formal bilateral to an informal chat over coffee. One US official joked to the New York Times it was more of a “bi-latte”.
Biden is proud of his Irish heritage and frequently references it, once famously joking to a BBC journalist who asked him a question: “BBC? I’m Irish.”
Arlene Foster, the former Northern Ireland first minister and ex- DUP leader told GB News this morning Biden was opposed to unionism and “hates the United Kingdom”.
But in a briefing to journalists today, Amanda Sloat, senior director for Europe at the US National Security Council, rejected the claim.
“I think the track record of of the president shows that he is not anti-British,” she said.
“The president has been very actively engaged throughout his career dating back to when he was a senator in the peace process in Northern Ireland and that involved engagement with leaders of all of Northern Ireland parties from both of the two main communities.”
Sloat said while Biden “is a very proud Irish-American” and “very proud of those Irish roots” he was “also a strong supporter of our bilateral partnership with the UK”.
Biden will also travel to the Republic of Ireland, where he will carry out a number of engagements during his four-day stay, including a speech in Dublin as well as visits to ancestral homelands.
After he leaves Belfast on Wednesday, Biden will cross the border to attend engagements in Co Louth. The president has traced his ancestral roots to the area and he will tour Carlingford Castle in the county before spending the night in Dublin.