Thread by @benrileysmith

Why does Trump back Boris? Have talked to half a dozen people close to both to find out.

In short - it follows a 2yr drive by Boris to befriend the president’s inner circle. And worked thanks to charisma, flattery + hard Brexit.

Summary thread below...
telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/0…

First things first - they don’t actually know eachother very well.

Just two known meetings while in office - Nato in Brussels (May 2017) and UN in New York (Sep 2017)

Both were brush-bys rather than formal sit-down talks.

But that last meeting left an impression.

Trump told his longtime friend Chris Ruddy shortly afterwards: “I really like him. I’ve heard good things about him.”

Ruddy explained that Trump (who has boasted of being able to judge character instantly) can tell very quickly if someone likes him.

“Boris is unconventional. Donald gravitates to people that are unconventional,” he said.

Boris’s drive to win over Trump World was not happenstance. It was seen as a critical part of his Foreign Office brief.

He flew out to meet Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner and others in New York just weeks after Trump’s election win. (Before the inauguration.)

Boris had catching up to do. He’d publicly said Trump was unfit to be president in 2015 when latter suggested London had no-go areas.

Including this memorable quote: “The only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump."

Within days of the election Boris had changed tact. He hit out at the “winge-o-rama” emanating from Europe over the result and praised Trump’s “deal-maker” reputation.

The campaign worked. Boris struck up a strong relationship with Sec of State Rex Tillerson (talking on a secure line every month). He befriended Kushner + has the admiration of John Bolton.

(Larry Kudlow, top W House economic adviser, has read Boris’s Churchill book + likes him)

UK officials used Boris’s political celebrity. He would go on Fox News in hope of getting UK policy messages heard in White House.

Getting Boris to show Trump round Churchill War Rooms was discussed for his first UK visit. (Didn’t happen but other Republicans have done.)

Here’s one UK source who saw first hand Boris’s trip to White House in May 2018. He was freewheeling.

Those who saw Boris buttering up senior Republicans say he ditched the UK embassy speaking notes on ice-breakers and went his own way.

His opening gambit to then House Speaker Paul Ryan was: “Paul, I hear you’re great, why aren’t you running for the presidency?”

The flattery was not lost on Trump. Nor did he hide the fact.

President told @tnewtondunn last year: “I have a lot of respect for Boris. He obviously likes me and says very good things about me.”

Former Trump White House aides say the president warmed to Boris’s “outspoken” nature, perceived strength as a leader and Brexit stance.

(Both men successfully led outsider movements in 2016 and disdain Mrs May’s Brexit deal.)

But would the bond actually help if bookies are right and Boris becomes PM??

Macron had an early bromance with Trump yet failed to keep him in Iran deal, Paris agreement or majorly on the ground in Syria.

Boris allies say he used his influence to help convince US to expel 60 Russian diplomats after Salisbury poisoning and protect British Muslims from the (clumsily enforced) early border tightening.

That does chime with what I’ve heard in DC.

Ruddy (who has known Trump for 20 years) summed it up thus...

“This is one of the key things for Trump – he picks up on very quickly if people like him or not.”

Trump thinks Boris likes him. Expect the compliments to keep coming until that changes.

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