Joe Biden has tried to dispell any idea he's anti-British in a seemingly off-script mention of his English roots.
The US President was speaking at Ulster University as part of a Northern Ireland visit in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Biden, who is intensely proud of his Irish ancestry, has been criticised by senior Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) figures for being anti-British.
MP Sammy Wilson claimed the president "has got a record of being pro-Republican, anti-Unionist, anti-British" while former first minister Baroness Foster has suggested he "hates the UK".
In the opening remarks of his speech in Northern Ireland, President Biden opened with a joke about his English roots, with the name 'Biden' coming from his English ancestry.
The 46th American President revealed his surprising family links to England after cracking a few jokes at the start of the monologue.
He recalled his relationship with a former UK ambassador to the United States. The 80-year-old said the ambassador would pull his leg about his surname being English rather than Irish, and gave him a book with an English 'Captain George Biden' on the front.
Captain Sir George Biden was a famous British sailor, and Biden's paternal third great-grandfather, William Biden, was born in England - possible Sussex - in 1789 and emigrated to the United States, where he settled in Maryland.
Mr Biden also said he found out a relative of his in the 1800s had written rules of mutiny for the British navy. He then went on to explain that he and his sister had found that the origins of his middle name were not what they seemed.
"My middle name is Robinette, I thought for all those years it was French but it must have been Huguenots because they came to Great Britain in the 1700s somewhere along the way, and they're all from Nottingham," he said.
"So I don't know what the hell's going on here, when you come back it's confusing."
According to Dominic Waghorn, Sky's international affairs editor, the comments appeared off script.
He said: "For those who aren't aware – [Biden] is seen as someone who goes on about his Irish heritage a lot, a person who is seen here as too pro-Nationalist, too pro-Dublin."
Mr Waghorn added: "But he said he was told that he was actually British as well, some encounter in the past – it had been pointed out that there was a famous British sailor called Sir George Biden. Also, he said that he had some heritage going back to Nottingham."
Any suggestion he was anti-British was rejected by Amanda Sloat, senior director for Europe at the US National Security Council, who said: "It's simply untrue - the fact that the president is going to be engaging for the third time in three months, and then again next month and then again in June, with the Prime Minister of the UK shows how close our co-operation is with the UK.
"And before that, the president had numerous calls and meeting with prime minister Johnston, and prime minister Truss as well."
Ms Sloat continued: "President Biden obviously is a very proud Irish-American, he is proud of those Irish roots, but he is also a strong supporter of our bilateral partnership with the UK, and not only on a bilateral basis within Nato, the G7, on the UN Security Council, and we truly are working in lockstep with the British Government on all of the pressing global challenges that our countries are facing."
The relationship between the US and the UK is in the spotlight as Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The pair met for around 45 minutes on Wednesday, with Mr Sunak telling broadcasters that the pair spoke about the "incredible economic opportunities" for Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister described the UK's relationship with the US as being "in great shape", describing them as "very close partners and allies".
The White House said he would use the trip to reaffirm support for the Good Friday Agreement, 25 years after the peace deal was reached, and to encourage the restoration of powersharing - something that collapsed due to the DUP's protest over post-Brexit rules.
At the meeting with Mr Sunak in a Belfast hotel, Mr Biden faced a volley of questions from reporters - including if he had a message for Northern Irish parties and why he was not discussing a trade deal while on his visit to the UK.
But he declined to answer, instead commenting on the "heck of a view" from the upper floors of the Grand Central Hotel.
Mr Sunak, smiling, sat at a table with the US president as the pair met over cups of tea.
A major security operation is in place for Mr Biden's visit, with more than 300 officers from the rest of the UK being drafted into Northern Ireland.
The US president's son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens are accompanying him for the four-day trip, which will include visits in Ireland linked to his family history.
After he leaves Belfast on Wednesday, Mr Biden will cross the border into the Republic of Ireland.
As well as meeting with a number of dignotaries including Irish president Michael D Higgins, Mr Biden will make a public speech at St Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina.
The president's great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold 27,000 bricks to the cathedral in 1827, which helped him to afford to buy tickets for himself and his family to sail to America decades later in 1851.
