David Cameron sparks diplomatic row with Donald Trump joke just as Boris Johnson arrives in the US for talks
The dig at the paranoid US president came after his aides sparked uproar last week by falsely claiming GHCQ eavesdropped on him
DAVID Cameron has fuelled a White House spying row by mocking Donald Trump just as Boris Johnson arrives in the US for diplomatic talks.
Asked during a speech to American students what he most liked about losing power, the former PM said: “I don’t have to listen any more to the wiretaps of Donald Trump’s conversations”.
He swiftly added: “Just to be clear, that’s a joke”.
The dig at the paranoid US president came after his aides sparked uproar last week by falsely claiming GHCQ eavesdropped on him on predecessor Barack Obama’s orders.
It comes just as the Foreign Secretary touched down in the US capital on Tuesday night.
Boris will hold talks with Trump’s senior aides as well as his National Security Adviser H R McMaster in a bid to smooth over the Trans-Atlantic row.
In another risky comment, the former Tory leader also said the Queen was “well-equipped to deal with” Trump when she hosts him during a state visit to Britain in the Autumn as “she has met with a quarter of all US Presidents”.
Mr Cameron was speaking on Monday night at prestigious Brown University in Rhode Island.
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He also told of his major disagreements with the US president on a range of issues from tackling global poverty to NATO, adding: “Your President doesn’t agree with some of the things I’ve said”.
Mr Cameron’s wiretapping quip follows FBI boss James Comey’s embarrassing declaration on Monday that his agents have “no information” to support Trump’s wild claim about the Cheltenham-based spy agency.
Former Foreign Secretary William Hague stepped up demands on Mr Trump to apologise for the false allegations yesterday.
Dubbing GCHQ staff “some of our finest public servants”, Lord Hague said: “They deserve something better from the White House than the recycling of the baseless claims of fantasists”.
- Additional reporting by Joshua Zitser