{"id":323740,"date":"2017-08-29T21:44:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T20:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/boris-bashing-foreign-sec-ridiculed-as-joke-by-trump-team-eu-diplomats-uk-officials\/"},"modified":"2017-08-29T21:44:39","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T20:44:39","slug":"boris-bashing-foreign-sec-ridiculed-as-joke-by-trump-team-eu-diplomats-uk-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/boris-bashing-foreign-sec-ridiculed-as-joke-by-trump-team-eu-diplomats-uk-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"Boris bashing: Foreign Sec ridiculed as \u2018joke\u2019 by Trump team, EU diplomats & UK officials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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US President Donald Trump\u2019s team does not want to work with Boris Johnson because \u201cthey think he\u2019s a joke,\u201d it has been claimed.<\/p>\n

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White House officials, as well as diplomats across Europe, are confused by Prime Minister Theresa May\u2019s decision to make Johnson Britain\u2019s foreign secretary and do not take him seriously, according to the Times\u2019 Rachel Sylvester<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Johnson, who went up against May in the race to succeed David Cameron as PM, has been accused of insulting foreign counterparts and demeaning his own office on numerous occasions since becoming foreign secretary last year.<\/p>\n

Diplomatic sources told Sylvester that figures in Trump\u2019s team \u201cdon\u2019t want to go anywhere near Boris because they think he\u2019s a joke.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worse in Europe. There\u2019s not a single foreign minister there who takes him seriously. They think he\u2019s a clown who can never resist a gag,\u201d<\/em> a current British minister added.<\/p>\n

Another Tory MP said\u00a0\u201cThe French think Boris is totally unreliable, the Germans think he\u2019s lying and the Italians think he\u2019s dangerous. He is undermining our ability to negotiate internationally and degrading our position abroad. The foreign secretary is supposed to enhance Britain\u2019s reputation but all over the world Boris is making matters worse.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Civil servants in the Foreign Office are \u201chorrified\u201d<\/em> by Johnson\u2019s lack of discipline and professionalism, Sylvester adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about managing Boris, not respecting him,\u201d<\/em> she quotes one Whitehall source as saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got no concentration span so it\u2019s difficult to have a detailed discussion with him. The whole thing is completely ramshackle for someone who is supposed to be so clever. He doesn\u2019t know what he thinks so he flies by the seat of his pants,\u201d<\/em> the source added.<\/p>\n

Downing Street responded to the newspaper by saying it had \u201cfull confidence\u201d in Johnson and that he was \u201cdoing a good job.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n