Log In
updated 10:20 AM UTC, Dec 13, 2023

Boris Johnson, Donald Trump Discuss 5G And Security In Phone Call

August 2, 2019. The Guardian: Donald Trump has spoken with Boris Johnson about trade, next-generation 5G mobile networks and global security in a phone call, the White House has said.

The US president told the British prime minister on Thursday that he looked forward to meeting him at the G7 economic summit in France later this month, the White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement.

The US is pressuring its allies, including Britain, to avoid using equipment from the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in its 5G mobile networks. Washington says Huawei is a national security risk.

The UK’s national security council, chaired by Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May, had decided in principle to give Huawei limited access to sensitive parts of the 5G network. But the council has yet to make a final decision, and Johnson is more publicly aligned with Trump than May was.

This was the second call between the two leaders made public in a week and underlines the Trump administration’s support for Johnson as he tries to manage Britain’s exit from the European Union. Trump said last week that a “very substantial” US-British trade deal was under discussion.

Trump has regularly spoken of his admiration for Johnson.

After the former foreign secretary won the Conservative leadership vote, Trump told a rally: “We have a really good man who’s going to be the prime minister … They’re saying Britain Trump … They like me over there. That’s what they wanted.

“Boris is good, he’s going to do a good job.”

Tagged under

Leave a Reply