Joe Biden has claimed that he visited the island of Ireland to make sure the “Brits didn’t screw around”.
The comments sparked awkward questions for prime minister Rishi Sunak who met the president in Belfast during his visit last month.
Their meeting was brief after the White House scaled back their interaction from a bilateral event to a less formal over coffee.
The White House was also forced to deny Biden is “anti-British” while Downing Street denied their meeting was “low key”.
Biden later travelled to Ballina, Co Mayo, to celebrate his ancestral links to Ireland.
The president’s latest criticism of Britain was made at a Democratic Party event in New York on Wednesday.
Biden, who has spoken proudly of his Irish roots, said: “I got to go back to Ireland for the, for the, the Irish Accords, to make sure they weren’t, the Brits didn’t screw around and Northern Ireland didn’t walk away from their commitments.”
Biden’s trip was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
During the visit, he made clear his hope that power sharing could soon be restored.
It came after the UK and the EU secured a long-awaited deal designed to address unionist concerns about the post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
However, the new deal, called the “Windsor Framework”, has not so far seen power sharing return in Northern Ireland.
Downing Street said Sunak’s new Brexit deal was about “protecting” the Good Friday Agreement, when asked about Biden’s remarks.
His official spokesman said: “You will know that, obviously, the Windsor Framework was a culmination of substantive work between the UK and the EU, and at its heart the UK priority was always protecting the Good Friday Agreement.
“We have been consistent on that point throughout and we are pleased that between the UK and the EU we have been able to reach an agreement that works for the people of Northern Ireland, and for the whole of the UK.”