U.S. President Donald Trump’s brand of populism “is almost smart compared to the British” form of it, according to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In an interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper published Tuesday, Blair said former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who is expected to be chosen as the new leader of the Conservative Party Tuesday and thereby become Britain’s next prime minister, would need Trump’s support after the U.K. leaves the EU, but warned it was “double-edged.”
“It goes without saying for any British prime minister that we have a close relationship with the U.S., whoever the president is,” Blair said. “But if Britain loses its proximity to the EU, it becomes very dependent on the U.S.”
Asked what the difference was between the U.S. president’s brand of populism and Brexit rhetoric, Blair responded: “Trump’s populism is almost smart compared to the British.” He continued: “In Britain, a widespread, popular feeling was translated into a life-changing policy — Brexit. This is worse than Trump’s populism.”
Blair said that while Johnson was “no fool,” anyone who knows even “a little about the details” of Brexit talks knows the former foreign secretary “cannot negotiate what he promises.”
During his campaign for the Tory leadership, Johnson pledged to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement that Prime Minister Theresa May struck with the EU, despite Brussels’ ongoing insistence the deal would not be reopened.