Joe Biden mistakenly calls Rishi Sunak ‘Mr. President’ at White House meet
2 min read 09 Jun 2023, 08:22 AM ISTUS President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held high-stakes trade talks in Washington. They agreed to open negotiations on a trade pact that could help British automakers. Biden mistakenly addressed Sunak as Mr. President ahead of their conversation.
PremiumUS President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held high-stakes trade talks in Washington on Thursday. Ahead of their conversation, Biden mistakenly addressed Rishi Sunak as “Mr. President" and laughed, saying, "I just promoted you!"
“Joe Biden, who fell over again last week, called Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘Mr President’ today - having previously called him ‘Rashid Sanook’ - and then forgot Winston Churchill’s name altogether in a rambling anecdote. His physical & cognitive issues appear to be worsening," Popular British news anchor and commentator Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter.
This comes days after Biden experienced a momentary stumble on stage during a graduation ceremony, raising concerns among Republicans about the US President's age as he prepares for re-election next year. Biden would turn 86 years old by the end of his second term if he would be elected.
The two leaders agreed to open negotiations on a trade pact that could help British automakers qualify for electric car subsidies and speed the joint development of advanced weapons like hypersonic missiles after meeting Thursday at the White House, according to Bloomberg reports.
Biden and Sunak signed the "Atlantic Declaration," which Sunak described as a first-of-its-kind economic partnership on artificial intelligence and other economic and commercial relations, as the British leader made an official visit to the White House.
Britain and the United States' long-standing military and security partnerships have strengthened amid Russia's war in Ukraine and China's more aggressive posture in Asia, but a much-hoped-for free trade agreement has not materialized, Reuters reported.
"Our economic partnership is an enormous strength - a source of strength that anchors everything that we do together," Biden told reporters.
During the meeting, Sunak hailed the deal as setting “a new standard for economic cooperation" between the two nations, it falls well short of the free-trade agreement sought by successive Conservative governments as one of the great prizes of Brexit.
The UK and US held five rounds of talks on a trade deal when Donald Trump was president, but Biden suspended them, and his administration has made clear a sweeping accord is not in the cards any time soon. The US president said Thursday that his disengagement from trade negotiations wasn’t a signal that his country was becoming more protectionist.
(With inputs from agencies)