Love, actually? Biden's bid to repair 'special relationship' between US and UK

LONDON — When President Joe Biden missed King Charles III’s once-in-a-lifetime coronation last spring, his absence was interpreted by some in the British populace as a snub. Now, Biden will have an opportunity to smooth over tensions, real or imagined, with a brief stop in England and visit with the king this week en route to a NATO summit.

The American president with Irish ancestry angered Brexit supporters who accused him of harboring “anti-British” sentiments and meddling in the U.K.’s affairs after an April visit to Ireland to trace his heritage and celebrate a landmark peace accord.

Biden fanned the flames a month after the trip when he said during a political fundraiser that he visited Northern Ireland to make sure the “Brits didn't screw around” with commitments under the U.S.-brokered agreement that brought peace to the region.

His trip to Ireland came on the heels of a phone call to Charles in which the U.S. leader told the British monarch he would not attend his coronation. Although no U.S. president has attended the coronation of a British monarch, Biden’s critics added it to his tally of perceived slights against the U.K.

The U.S. president’s visit to London now ends the “kerfuffle” and puts to rest speculation that the alliance between the two nations “is in some kind of peril or is under strap,” said Laura Beers, a British history expert and professor at American University.

“Biden often speaks colorfully and maybe without fully thinking through the implications,” Beers said, “but I don't think he was intending to go to Ireland and put any strain on the historic relationship between Britain and the United States.”

Tension over trade deals

His administration’s unwillingness to authorize a fulsome trade deal for the U.K. has been a continued source of frustration, however. Conservatives had hoped for a swift agreement with the U.S. after breaking away from the European Union. The Biden administration has instead offered more narrowly tailored commitments on issues such as critical minerals and electric vehicle batteries.

Biden's efforts to reinvigorate the United States’ military partnership with Britain, coupled with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, have helped ease tensions between the longtime allies.

The U.S. president has sought to build a reliable, if not close, personal relationship with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who he met with last month in Washington, amid turbulence in Europe and in both nations’ governments.

“Both countries have been through such dramatic political turmoil,” said Rep. Jim Himes, a co-chair of the Congressional United Kingdom Caucus. The Democratic lawmaker from Connecticut invoked Brexit and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Biden’s visit is a chance to “recenter” the special relationship with Britain, Himes said, and demonstrate that it has “weathered all storms.”

It is Biden’s fifth official visit to the U.K. since taking office. He attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London last September and a Group of Seven summit in Cornwall his first year in office. On separate occasions, he delivered speeches in Belfast, marking the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement last April, and Glasgow, at a 2021 climate conference.

While at the G-7, Biden took part in a climate and sustainability-focused reception with business leaders that Charles hosted, a White House official said, and went to a reception with the royal family.

Biden and Charles also conversed at the late queen's funeral, U.S. and British officials said, and met during the climate summit in Scotland.

“They've had quite a close relationship through those various meetings. They see eye-to-eye on a number of issues,” Deputy British Ambassador to the U.S. James Roscoe said in an interview.

The White House said at the time of the Glasgow summit that the pair discussed climate issues for roughly 15 minutes, with Biden praising the “environmental activism” of the British royal during the informal conversation.

'A friendly conversation' between Biden and King Charles

U.S. officials have not provided an explanation for Biden’s decision to skip the coronation earlier this year. First lady Jill Biden represented the administration at the celebration instead.

At the time many historians said it's actually a centuries-long tradition for American presidents to miss the coronation. In part, experts attribute the 250 years of protocol to how impractical it used to be for a U.S. president to travel overseas.

The president dodged a question about his absence during an MSNBC interview that aired the day before the celebration.

“We're going to be going to a NATO conference in Europe. And I told him I'd stop either on the way there or on the way back to discuss what he really is passionate about – the environment,” Biden told host Stephanie Ruhle after first claiming he was missing the coronation because of their interview.

White House officials say that Biden and Charles have a “very good relationship” and a shared passion for fighting climate change.

“They had a friendly conversation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in April after their call. “It is not a snub."

Roscoe also downplayed Biden’s decision to skip the event, saying there was “no expectation” that Biden would make multiple trips to the U.K. in such quick succession.

“We were very touched that the president came over for the funeral of the queen. In the same way, as we were incredibly moved the president came here to the embassy on the day the queen died to sign our condolence book,” Roscoe said.

Nile Gardiner, an adviser to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after she left office, said he does not believe Biden is visiting Charles “out of any kind of warmth towards the United Kingdom or the British monarchy.”

“I don't think Biden is any friend of Britain. In fact, I think he treats Britain with sneering disregard,” said Gardiner, a fellow at the conservative, Washington-based Heritage Foundation. “I think that the only reason why Biden is meeting with the king is that he is expected to do so as part of the visit to Britain.”

Beers, the American University professor and British historian, said trade deal components that Biden and Sunak announced in June during the prime minister’s visit to the White House – “even if it was largely symbolic" – and the nations’ united front against Russia demonstrate that America does not want to push Britain away.

“I don't think Biden has an anti-British slant to his foreign policy by any means,” she said.

Britain has had its own share of problems over the past few years. Sunak is the third British prime minister that Biden has dealt with since taking office. The two leaders have met five previous times since Sunak became prime minister, including at a March summit in San Diego where they announced developments in a trilateral security pact with Australia. The meeting on Monday will be their sixth engagement together.

Amid a visit last month to Washington, Sunak addressed concerns about the U.K. and its alliance with the U.S., telling reporters during a White House news conference, “I feel confident that through the strength of our relationship, we can shape the world once again in our pursuit of liberty, prosperity, and the possibilities of a new age.

“I know some people have wondered what kind of partner Britain would be after we left the EU. I’d say: Judge us by our actions. We’re committed to our values as ever, as reliable an ally as ever, as attractive an investment destination as ever,” he said.

Biden noted the two nations’ long-running military ties. “That’s the unshakable foundation of this special relationship. And it is a special relationship. There’s no country closer to us than Great Britain," he said.

Maintaining the special relationship

The key to keeping relations between the two countries on solid footing is to keep expectations at a reasonable level, said Bronwen Maddox, director and chief executive of Chatham House, a London-based policy institute.

“Rishi Sunak has done that very well,” she said. “He hasn't reached for or implied to the country that a trade deal is around the corner. This is a long, long, long process.”

Sunak has opened up a “more practical avenue of conversation,” she said, on issues such as China, military cooperation and artificial intelligence.

Those issues and Ukraine are expected to be part of the conversation when the two leaders meet in London.

Jean-Pierre initially described Biden's trip as a “state visit" while talking in April about the prospective stop. She declined on Friday "to get into specifics" of what it will be called. "I think what’s important is that the president is going to go to London. He’s going to go to the U.K.," the White House spokeswoman said.

The British government says the White House press secretary misspoke and a state visit invitation was never extended.

“State visits take months and months of planning,” Roscoe said. “I don't think we could have announced a state visit in April and delivered it in July. That would be quite something.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can President Biden repair US-UK 'special relationship' ?