Biden says special relationship is in ‘good shape’ as he meets Rishi Sunak at White House to forge ‘economic alliance’ | The Sun

ELDERLY US leader Joe Biden accidentally called Prime Minister Rishi Sunak "Mr President".

The 80-year-old Commander in Chief was welcoming the PM to the White House for the first time, but appeared confused as the pair posed for the cameras.

Mr Sunak smiled awkwardly in the Oval Office, as Mr Biden corrected himself: "Well, Mr President, Mr President, I just promoted you. Mr Prime Minister, it's great to have you back."

The PM had not officially visited the White House before, or even Washington DC as Prime Minister.

He started his remarks by thanking Mr Biden for letting him stay at White House, joking that "the spare room in the flat in Number 10 Downing Street doesn't quite compare".

The President later joked: "We are going to solve all the problems of the world in the next 20 minutes".

And he told a rambling anecdote about a former British PM staying at the White House.

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There’s an awful lot of stories that are told, probably a bunch apocryphal about former prime ministers "wandering around 3am."

"You don't have to worry about that with me" Mr Sunak joked, noting Mr Biden was referencing wartime great Sir Winston Churchill."

Mr Biden added: "Prime Minister Churchill and Roosevelt met here a little over 70 years ago."

He said that the two leaders asserted "to the strength of the partnership between Great Britain and the United States was the strength of the free world.

I still think there's truth in that assertion."

Asked by the press if the Special Relationship was in good shape, the President gave a thumbs up and said "real good shape."

At around 6.45pm a press conference will be held, with the outcome of the talks being announced.

The PM has been in Washington DC for the past two days.

It's his first time visiting the US capital as premier.

This morning Mr Sunak visited a DC school, where he watched kids make 3D chess sets and helped conduct a science experiment.

Mr Sunak watched a drone being flown, planted jalapeño seeds and helped with a science experiment.

He also attended a Major League Baseball game.

The Washington Nationals took on the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of US-UK Friendship Day, celebrating relations between the two countries.

Earlier today Mr Sunak argued the UK and US haven't signed a post-Brexit free trade agreement because of the pandemic and war in Ukraine.

Quizzed in Washington DC why trade talks with the Joe Biden White House have been iced, the PM said the economic situation had changed in recent years.

But the PM refused to accept the Government's failure to strike a free trade accord with the US amounted to a "broken promise" – despite such a deal being pledged in the Tory election manifesto.

But Joe Biden had frozen negotiations long before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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The PM told reporters on his trip to the US: "Since then we've had a pandemic, we've had a war in Ukraine, and that has changed the macroeconomic situation.

"The right response to that is ensure that we're focusing our engagement economically on the things that will make the most difference."

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